Julián Álvarez has said he took a page out of Argentina teammate Lionel Messi‘s book for his stunning free kick at Camp Nou.
The Argentina international curled a free kick into the top corner on the stroke of half time to give Atlético Madrid the lead against Barcelona in their Champions League quarterfinal. Diego Simeone’s side went on to win the first leg 2-0, with Alexander Sørloth scoring the visitors’ second.
“I’ve watched Messi’s goal against Liverpool [in May 2019] here [at the Camp Nou] several times, but I wasn’t entirely sure it was going into that exact corner,” Álvarez told ESPN.
“Once you strike the ball, you realise it, and even before I kicked, I was already quite certain. We were practising yesterday and I hadn’t converted a single one. Today was what mattered.”
The free kick took his tally for the season to 18 and heightened the demand for his services. The forward, who has a contract at Atlético until June 2030, has been a reported target for Barça.
Sources had previously told ESPN that Arsenal are also weighing up a move for the forward.
However, Atlético president Enrique Cerezo has warned Julián Álvarez’s suitors that he will be the one to decide when the player leaves the club.
“If a player is under contract with a team and still has many years left on that contract, well, you tell me what might happen. In that case, you might as well think I’m God, and until I tell him to leave, he’s not going to leave,” he said.
Barça are looking to sign a forward this summer with their Polish forward Robert Lewandowski out of contract in June.
Álvarez, who joined Atlético in a €75 million transfer from Manchester City in 2024, is Barcelona president Joan Laporta’s ideal signing.
When asked if he could guarantee that the Argentina international will play for Atlético next season, Cerezo replied, in a light-hearted tone: “Can you guarantee that you won’t die between now and the end of the year?”
Álvarez, meanwhile, said he is focusing on the present.
“I’m in good form at the moment,” he said after earning the Player of the Match award in Atlético’s 2-0 win at Barcelona on Wednesday. “I feel great, and the most important part of the season is coming up. We need to keep working hard because there are great things ahead.”
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Despite the win, Álvarez remains cautious ahead of next week’s quarterfinal return leg at the Metropolitano.
“It isn’t over yet,” he said. “We know what sort of team they are. The truth is, we have the upper hand and we need to make the most of our home crowd.”
