“Mi dulce condena.”
“My sweet damnation.”
This was the message on the tifo that Atlético de Madrid fans displayed in the Metropolitano’s Fondo Sur on Sunday, before kickoff of Atlético’s eventual 2-1 loss to FC Barcelona in a top-of-the-table clash.
The tifo depicted a person in an Atleti shirt holding onto prison bars — obviously, a thinly-veiled message toward Julián Alvarez, who was not permitted to move to Barcelona in the summer after he made a public transfer request in June.
On Sunday night, Diego Simeone offered another full-throated defense of the embattled Alvarez, who was at the heart of most things good — and also bad — from Atleti’s defeat to Barça. His balance in LaLiga this season reads: one goal and two assists in 420 minutes played.
“We wanted him to show his usual decisiveness,” Simeone explained. “But we’ll stand by him because he’s a great player. We want to recover him.”
The stats will tell you Sunday was one of Alvarez’s best individual performances of this calendar year. The Argentina striker did much of what he had struggled to do throughout the season to date. He was aggressive, with four shot attempts and seven box touches. He created two chances, completed three dribbles and won three of four ground duels. He assisted Giuliano Simeone’s 10th-minute opener with a sharp left-footed cross, after Lee Kang-in switched the play to him with a pinpoint long ball from the right.
The stats say that is much more like it from Julián. The vibes though say something completely different, that this player is even further from rediscovering the form that led him to a 29-goal debut season in 2024/25.
Mere minutes earlier, Koke had sent Alvarez through on Joan García’s goal. Incredibly, he failed to get away a shot. He demurred, he paused, he tried to round García but the Spain goalkeeper closed down the angle. Then he tried to square the ball to Giuliano, but Gerard Martín read it easily and cleared it away for a corner. Chance spurned.
After 54 minutes, Koke again sent Alvarez on his way behind Barcelona’s defense. La Araña spotted García off his line and tried to lob him from 20 yards. He missed everything. Goal kick.
When Simeone removed Lee for Alexander Sørloth — and later, Álex Baena for Morten Hjulmand — he kept Alvarez on the pitch as a left winger against Frenkie de Jong, whose entry into the game as a makeshift right-back affected what had been Atlético’s biggest advantage. Atleti had succeeded in trapping Brian Fariñas and forcing him into repeated back passes, which prevented Barcelona from accessing the final third. It also put Baena and Álex Grimaldo on top of the overmatched Brian; switching the play from right to left, Atleti kept finding Baena with yards of space in front of him.
But of course, the Rojiblancos never added to their lead, and Simeone’s second-half changes undid all of the good from the first half.
There was a report in Marca this week which claimed the coaching staff is committed to getting Ademola Lookman back into form. Lookman played zero minutes on Sunday. Arnau Ortiz hasn’t played for nearly two months and probably is going to leave in January. Instead of these alternatives — well, Lookman, though it must be noted he hasn’t been playing well — Simeone preferred to move Julián out left, and de Jong never was troubled as he combined frequently with Lamine Yamal and Fermín López. Barcelona’s center-backs pushed up. The pressure became more intense. And after 65 minutes, Fermín completed his brace to end the game as a contest.
The Rojiblancos produced two shot attempts and 0.21 expected goals in the second half. Meek as could be.
Back in August, I wrote “the thought of Simeone flushing his twilight years down the drain to champion a player with the personality of a pool noodle makes me sick to my stomach.” Well, here it is: the legend among legends at Atlético de Madrid is still going to bat for Alvarez, who publicly betrayed his coach in the summer and on Sunday helped his beloved Barça about as much as he helped Atleti.
I can’t begin to tell you how fed up I am with Alvarez. He is João Félix all over again. I don’t like watching him play. The deference toward him is rooted less in logic and more in an institutional edict from the board. He didn’t press Pedri as the midfielder dribbled through the center to set up Fermín for the equalizer — with some help from two unfortunate deflections off Atleti defenders. His jog back into position allowed Fermín ample opportunity to time his run and sweep home Yamal’s pass for 2-1. There is little rationale for allowing him to complete 90 minutes.
Julián’s apology after the Deportivo game last month has not been accompanied by a goal-scoring binge. Some fans continued to whistle him when his name was read out Sunday. There is no love lost here. He has fallen spectacularly from grace, an idol-in-waiting transformed into a pariah among supporters.
Yet, he will continue to receive opportunities, as Simeone continues to reward past performance…and as he doesn’t like the other options up top.
Simeone knows that Sørloth, clumsy though he is, has come good before when Atleti have to be more direct. He also knows that the towering Norwegian is a limited player for the elite level. He has attempted three shots in 155 minutes this season, and his partnership with Alvarez has never worked.
The other choice is Jonathan David, on whom Simeone has soured despite a blistering start to the season: the Canada star has played only 95 minutes across the past five games. In his first five appearances, David scored three goals and assisted two more over 222 minutes. He was hauled off at halftime of the Stuttgart game last month and has not started since.
“To get to where we want to be, we need Julián Alvarez at his best,” Simeone said. “Otherwise, we won’t get there.”
Simeone is right: an in-form Alvarez is much better than David and much, much better than Sørloth. That guy is a top striker who can get Atleti closer to ending its title drought.
But said guy hasn’t been “at his best” in over a year. Simeone keeps trying to play him into form, abandoning what worked with David and even with Baena as a false nine. Part of a coach’s job is to know when to stop trying to make “fetch” happen.
I’m often asked what I think about Simeone’s future, and whether Atleti should “let him go” — particularly if this season ends trophyless, just as the previous five have. The first thing I usually say is “he’s earned the right to walk when he feels it’s time.” Trophies are great, and Atleti squandered the Copa del Rey last year, but the reality of competing in Spain is harder than most realize.
Then I ask: “If you’re Atlético, and willingly refusing to offer Simeone a new contract, do you have a guarantee that his replacement will raise this team’s ceiling?” Looking at the current coaching landscape, I’m not easily convinced. If it were up to me, I would simply keep adding good players to the team, get rid of the players who don’t fit and keep him on board for another couple of seasons.
But that’s not my choice, and Simeone’s current management of Alvarez is not sustainable for the rest of the team.
The season is long. Atlético have earned 28 points through 12 rounds and should comfortably return to LaLiga’s podium when it’s over. A respectable league campaign is the top objective this season; Atleti are on pace for 89 points. The cup campaigns are pending, but early returns suggest this team is not a serious threat to win the Champions League in its home stadium come June.
This is a good team, missing the nine that could make it great. The club continues to position Alvarez as that forward. But how does a forward who has scored two league goals since the end of February warrant such a status? I can’t tell you. This doesn’t happen at other big clubs.
What I can tell you is it’s a club that is paying Julián Alvarez’s wages until 2030. The Cholo Simeone of old had Diego Costa, Radamel Falcao or Luis Suárez to bag goals that netted trophies.
This one is stuck with the moody Julián, whose defining image at this club is slipping while attempting a penalty. And he might be his coach’s downfall.
