Atletico Madrid kept Julian Alvarez away from fans to protect him, says Diego Simeone

Diego Simeone says Atletico Madrid deliberately prevented Julian Alvarez from approaching the supporters after Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Villarreal, as the club sought to shield the Argentina forward from an increasingly difficult situation.

Alvarez left the pitch without going over to acknowledge the Atletico fans, prompting further questions about his position at the club. The forward was involved in the second La Liga match of the season against Villarreal, but speculation about his future has continued to grow.

Speaking at his post-match news conference, Simeone said the decision to keep Alvarez away from the stands was made by the club rather than the player.

“People from the club told me that the club decided that he should not go near the stands and his supporters. The decision was to keep him away and isolate him until he came to the dressing room,” said the Atletico manager.

Simeone also made clear that he regards Alvarez as an important part of the squad required to compete for trophies. The Argentine coach said he was not going to offer the player personal advice, insisting that his own responsibility was to concentrate on his work on the pitch.

“I am not here to give advice. I have to focus on my job, which is to do my best on the pitch,” he said.

But Simeone then delivered a strong message about the role of Alvarez and his other forwards, stressing that Atletico must remain united if they are to challenge for silverware.

“If we want to win a title, we have to be united and have top-class forwards,” he added.

“We need forwards, good forwards. We have them, and we have to look after them.”

The comments represented a clear indication of Simeone’s support for Alvarez, despite the uncertainty surrounding the striker during the current period.

Atletico were held by Villarreal in a match in which Simeone felt his side controlled much of the play and defended strongly. He said the team improved after the interval following a series of changes and moved ahead through an excellent goal from Marc Pubill.

However, Atletico were unable to manage the closing stages effectively and failed to hold on to the advantage.

Simeone declined to become involved in a debate over the penalties awarded during the match. He said he would not discuss whether the decisions were correct once they had been given, although he acknowledged that Atletico had not handled certain parts of the game well and had been forced to work extremely hard to preserve the result.

The manager also explained why Ademola Lookman was used in an attacking position that does not suit his natural qualities. Alexander Sørloth’s injury, together with Alvarez regaining his form, had forced Simeone to deploy Lookman in that role.

Simeone said Lookman would be returned to his preferred position once all of Atletico’s forwards were available.