Back from the brink! Alvarez starts at Anfield weeks after failed Barcelona move
From Barcelona target to Simeone's spearhead in a matter of days: Julian Alvarez starts for Atletico Madrid at Anfield tonight.
Details: Alvarez has been named in Atletico's starting XI for their Champions League league phase opener away to Liverpool. It is the Argentine's first start of the season after a summer in which he pushed for a move to Barcelona, who saw an opening bid worth around 100 million euros rejected before deadline day.
The reintegration has been swift and surprisingly warm. Alvarez, a World Cup winner and Atletico's top scorer last season, was reintegrated into Simeone's squad after the Barca dream collapsed, with the club insisting he remains central to their project. Tonight he leads the line at one of Europe's most intimidating grounds, against a Liverpool side that beat Atletico 3-2 in the same fixture last season and now hands a first Champions League start to 123 million pound signing Bradley Barcola. For Alvarez, Anfield is the perfect stage to remind everyone, including Barcelona's directors watching from Catalonia, exactly what slipped through their fingers.
It's worth noting that this is the sixth meeting between Liverpool and Atletico this decade, a fixture that has quietly become one of the Champions League's spiciest modern rivalries.
Reminder: Major twist at Atletico! Julian Alvarez is back with the squad!
Miguel Solomons
Dailysports's expert
