Why didn't Julián Álvarez enter against Leipzig for the UEFA Champions League round of 16? This question was the one that many asked after the 1-1 draw on Wednesday.
Of course, there is no better person to explain it than
Pep Guardiola
, Manchester City coach and the focus of various criticisms for the few minutes that the Araña had in recent times.
Manchester City drew 1-1 against Leipzig in Germany and in this way must define their classification to the next stage at the Etihad Stadium.
But beyond the result, a great particularity is that the Catalan coach made no changes and, among all those who waited on the substitute bench, Julián Álvarez was unable to enter the field of play.
Manchester City must win in England to seal their passage to the quarterfinals.
(REUTERS/Annegret Hilse)
In a press conference, and when asked by journalists about why the Argentine did not add minutes, Guardiola gave his justification.
“I was about to put Julián in the second half close to Erling to be more aggressive, but we conceded a goal
,” he commented.
The development of the game had a Manchester City that took the lead after 27 minutes of the first half, at the feet of the Algerian Riyad Mahrez.
However, twenty minutes before the end of the match, Josko Gvardiol, that Croatian defender who was humiliated by Lionel Messi in the Qatar 2022 semifinals, was in charge of tying the process.
Another question, beyond Álvarez's situation, was why he decided not to move the substitute bench and complete the 90 minutes with the same players that made up the starting eleven.
“I have the possibility of making substitutions because they are the rules of the game;
but I am a very good coach to decide if I have to make substitutions or not”
, he explained.
Julián Álvarez's participation in Manchester City after the World Cup
The former River forward, author of 4 goals in the World Cup and one of the great figures of Lionel Scaloni's team, did not have a large amount of playing time after his return to the English club after his great participation in Qatari lands .
Since his return to the team,
he has been a substitute in 9 of 15 games and only entered the field of play 5 times.
It is true that he landed in Europe at the beginning of this season and has had more action than expected.
In total, he has made 29 appearances -12 as a starter- since his arrival in Manchester and has scored 9 goals in all competitions.
Another aspect that is also true is that his performance was more than up to par and that, because of how decisive he is every time he has minutes, he deserves to have more.
Since his arrival at Manchester City, Julián has scored 9 goals.
(AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
But it is undeniable that it competes with an outstanding.
The holder of the position, indisputably, is the Norwegian
Erling Haaland
and his numbers this season are impressive.
The 22-year-old striker
scored 32 goals in 32 games
, meaning he averages one goal per game.
The key for Julián Álvarez will be not to despair and to be able to take advantage of, as he has done up to now, every chance that Guardiola offers him.
The coach has made it clear, more than once, how highly valued he is for the Spider.
"He, of course, is a competitively different player. He doesn't need to win a World Cup for me to know what he is as a player. Thanks to Argentina, he comes back as a better player. That's great for us", the coach had commented after
the obtaining the World Cup by the Argentine National Team.
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