Diego Simeone said Julian Alvarez is destined to end up “in a special place” with Atlético Madrid after scoring twice — including a 90th minute winner — in their 2-1 comeback win over Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday.
Atlético were up against it after midfielder Pablo Barrios was sent off in the 25th minute at the Metropolitano, and then Piero Hincapié put visitors Leverkusen 1-0 up before half-time.
Álvarez levelled, Hincapié was sent off himself and then kept a cool head to finish late on, to leave Atlético third in the Champions League table, with 15 points from seven games.
“When we were thinking about [signing] Julian, this is what we got excited about,” Simeone told Movistar. “He’s got incredible experience. He’s a player with a present, and an even better future.
“Let’s hope we can help him as a team, and he can keep having the humility he has to be able to keep running, working and fighting for everything, because I have no doubt that as the years go by, it will leave him in a special place at this club.”
Atlético have pulled off some dramatic wins in this season’s Champions League so far, beating Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 in November and now besting much-fancied Leverkusen. They visit RB Salzburg in their last league phase game with a strong chance of making the top eight.
“It’s a game that will be remembered by the people that saw it,” Simeone said on Tuesday. “They were better in the first half. They didn’t let us get the ball. One team played, and the other didn’t get into the game.
“What happened in the second half isn’t a coincidence, the team has done it in other games. We equalised, they had the sending off, we felt we could win it. We took the chance we had, and won an emotional Champions League game. It’s a beautiful moment for the fans.”
Álvarez admitted the game was the highlight of his Atlético career so far, since joining from Manchester City last summer.
“Probably yes, with everything that happened, going down to ten men early, conceding,” Álvarez told Movistar. “It was difficult. But we played our game, the team grew, we levelled, and with ten versus ten, we saw we had the chance to win.
“They’re three very important points, and they’ll help us keep believing in what we’re doing.”
“Julian equalised out of nothing,” Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso said. “It’s not just about football, it’s about maturity. We have to improve if we want to compete.”
