Alvarez stings in Atletico’s comeback win
Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez scored twice, leading to a 2-1 comeback win against Leverkusen, securing a Champions League last-16 spot.
Kolkata: With a sideways look, Julian Alvarez swivelled and took off as Antoine Griezmann was teeing up the pass. Facing Griezmann, Jonathan Tah was a step slower. Seeking to compensate for his lack of pace, Tah unsuccessfully tried scooping the ball away. As Tah slipped, Alvarez stood strong – not for the first time on the night – chewed up ground and withstood Alejandro Grimaldo’s challenge to score the equaliser for Atletico Madrid in the 52nd minute.

Moving his arms up and down, Diego Simeone signalled for calm. The Atletico manager knows this situation well. “It’s no coincidence what happened in the second half,” he told Moviestar after the match. “We didn’t let the game get away from us.”
Alvarez’s goal was Atletico’s first shot on target. Alvarez rounding off Matej Kovar in the 90th, their second. It led to a heist typical of Atletico Madrid, victory gleaned from 30% possession. Typical because it needed another late goal in a season where they have scored 14 winners around the 90th. Typical because the assist for the second came from Angel Correa who has emerged impact sub with stoppage-time goals against Real Madrid, Paris St. Germain (PSG) and Athletic Bilbao.
The 2-1 win summed up a dramatic round of matches in the Champions League, a first in January since the old format European Cup in 1968. It was a night where Barcelona survived Wojciech Szczesny’s clangers and Vangelis Pavlidis’s first-half hattrick and revived memories of the crazy comeback against PSG in 2017 with a 5-4 win against Benfica. A night where four matches saw expulsions.
Two of them came in Madrid. The hosts have mounted a serious challenge for La Liga even though their 15-match winning run in all competitions ended at the weekend. But on Tuesday, Atletico were up against a team that lost just once last term and were on a 12-game winning run this time, which included wins against Bayern Munich and Inter Milan.
Twelve going on 13 it seemed when Piero Hincapie headed across Jan Oblak in first-half stoppage time. Pablo Barrios leaving his studs on Nordi Mukiele meant Atletico were a player light from the 25th minute. And now they were a goal down.
Very difficult for Atletico, said the television commentators. It looked that too with Oblak producing saves to keep out Florian Wirtz’s volley and a shot from Nathan Tella.
After 34 minutes, Leverkusen had three shots on target and 67% of the ball. Yet, early signs of Atletico’s ability to sting was there. And it came from Alvarez who was nicknamed “Arana” or spider by his brothers. Alvarez was called that because, according to a World Soccer report, it seemed he had more than two legs to control the ball.
Griezmann found him and Alvarez again stood strong and threaded through three Leverkusen players. That was in the 27th minute. Eleven minutes later, Griezmann and Alvarez combined again but Javi Galan shanked the shot.
In between and through most of the match Atletico deployed a low block. It can be frustrating for attacking players but Griezmann dropped deep to make crucial blocks and the team stayed patient in possession.
Then, Hincapie scored. Which made it the kind of situation which Atletico love. They got into the ears of their opponents and Simeone trampolined in agitation when Wirtz didn’t get a second booking. And when Hincapie was sent off in the 76th minute for a foul on Guiliano Simeone after he had swerved past the Leverkusen defender, Atletico perked up. “With 10 against 10, we saw our chance to win,” said Alvarez. Let down by poor defending, Leverkusen, manager Xabi Alonso said, lacked maturity.
Alvarez is a product of River Plate’s youth system, one that produced six players who were part of the 2022 World Cup winning squad, one from where Pablo Aimar, Hernan Crespo and Gonzalo Higuain graduated. He was good enough to be fast-tracked into the River Plate reserve side from the under-17 side. In 2021, “Arana” top-scored for River. Next year, City bought him for $26mn. Alvarez moved to Atletico last summer for $78.05mn plus $20mn in potential add-ons. By then, he had won everything football had to offer. He is 24.
In 31 matches for Atletico, Alvarez has 16 goals, including five in seven Champions League matches. “He has shown running, working, fighting, going all out because that’s what he’s all about. I have no doubt that as the years go by, he will be in a special place at the club,” said Simeone.
After a win more gritty than pretty but which sealed a last-16 berth it is difficult to disagree.
