A muscle issue that just won’t go away
Diego Simeone made it plain on Wednesday morning. Julian Alvarez will not play against Osasuna. “From what I have discussed with the doctors, Julian Alvarez is still in the recovery phase. He will not be available tomorrow,” the Argentine coach said at his press conference.
The muscle overload troubling the forward has been hanging around for several days. It already ruled him out of the trip to Real Sociedad at the weekend. Now it is keeping him out of a home fixture that comes at exactly the wrong time for Atletico, who are still trying to find their feet after an uneven start to the season.
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Two appearances in six matches
Alvarez’s record since the season kicked off says plenty. Two Liga appearances, both off the bench, against Villarreal and then Athletic. One start, against Liverpool in the Champions League last week. For a player signed as the centrepiece of the Madrid project, that is nowhere near enough.
This is not some dramatic injury. It is a string of niggles that keeps stopping him from building momentum, and that can be more damaging than a clear-cut long-term layoff. A forward who is doing 20 minutes here and a game there never finds rhythm, never builds understanding with his team-mates. Simeone, meanwhile, has to get by without his best finisher as the fixtures come thick and fast.
The schedule won’t wait
Osasuna on Wednesday, then the derby with Real Madrid at the end of the week. Atletico head into two very different tests with the same headache. The Madrid staff have opted for caution rather than forcing the issue, which makes sense given the nature of the problem. The question is how many more matches that caution will cost them.
Simeone gave no return date. He did not shut the door on the weekend either. For now, Atletico move on without him.
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