From Barcelona's dream to its nightmare: Alvarez threatens his favourite victim in the La Liga summit
Barça face their nemesis
Atlético Madrid host Barcelona at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano in an eagerly anticipated clash with top spot on the line. A win would send the Madrid side into the international break sitting at the summit, while firing a strong message about their genuine ambitions in the title race.
According to the Spanish newspaper "AS", one name towers over all others ahead of this clash: Julián Álvarez, given everything the past summer transfer window threw up around his future and his desire to pull on the Catalan club's shirt.
Forget the off-pitch saga over his future. The Atlético Madrid striker turns into a source of good news for his side whenever he faces Barcelona, the very club that chased him all summer and ranks among his favourite victims.
Álvarez has scored 4 goals against Barcelona across his two seasons with Atlético Madrid.
Only Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano have conceded as many goals to the Argentine striker, with the same tally against each.
But Álvarez edges the comparison thanks to two assists against the Catalan side, next to one against Real Madrid and none against Rayo Vallecano.
He is a constant nuisance to Hansi Flick's side, which is exactly why Diego Simeone is counting on him to settle the clash. Those four goals against Barcelona came across La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League, scored both at the Metropolitano and on the Catalans' own turf.
Nine matches against Barcelona have brought the Argentine 4 goals, though Simeone chose to rest him in last season's league meeting at the Metropolitano, with the two sides due to clash again in the Champions League four days later.
Álvarez's history with Barcelona rewards a closer look. The two sides met last season in the Copa del Rey on 12 February, when a huge crowd packed the Riyadh Air Metropolitano and watched Atlético Madrid thrash Barcelona 4-0, a night their fans still cherish.
Atlético produced a wonderful first half, capped by a fourth goal bearing Álvarez's signature. He played 68 minutes before Simeone sent on Alexander Sørloth.
One foot was in the semi-final, but the Madrid side suffered badly in the second leg, which ended in a 3-0 Barcelona win.
Álvarez started that night before Álex Baena replaced him in the 69th minute.
Roughly two months later, on 8 April, he left his mark on Barcelona once more, curling a wonderful direct free-kick into the net in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final at the Camp Nou.
That goal gave Atlético Madrid a 1-0 lead, and the Argentine celebrated it wildly after putting his side ahead. Flick's squad would eventually crash out of the tournament following Sørloth's second goal.
Álvarez played the whole match without being substituted. Barcelona took the return leg 2-1 but still bowed out, with the Argentine again going the distance.
Atlético Madrid landed two heavy blows on Barcelona in the Copa del Rey and the Champions League, and Álvarez stood at the heart of his side's fight for titles.
Then came the World Cup, followed by Álvarez's statements expressing his desire to leave, all the way to the complaint Atlético Madrid filed against Barcelona. The matter became a long saga over the past summer, with the Madrid club holding firm and insisting on defending its interests.
Those goals against Barcelona predate last season, as the Argentine had already found the net against the Catalans twice during his first campaign in an Atlético Madrid shirt, in 2024-2025.
His first came on 25 February 2025, when Barcelona and Atlético Madrid drew 4-4 in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final, another crazy match of the kind the two sides seem to specialise in.
The "Spider" opened the scoring for Atlético Madrid and played the full 90 minutes. Barcelona then settled the return leg at the Metropolitano and reached the final, a painful blow to the Madrid side, with Álvarez again featuring throughout.
Less than a month later in La Liga, Barcelona beat Atlético Madrid 4-2 at the Metropolitano on matchday 28. The game, played on 16 March, saw Álvarez open the scoring for the Madrid side, who went two goals clear before their performance dipped and allowed Barcelona to turn things around for a 4-2 win.
Álvarez made way for Alexander Sørloth in the 60th minute, and the Norwegian scored Atlético Madrid's second goal ten minutes after coming on.
So Julián Álvarez has 4 goals in 9 matches against Barcelona. In his first season with Atlético Madrid, the Madrid side won one of the two La Liga meetings, lost the other, and crashed out of the Copa del Rey at the hands of the Catalans.
Last season proved more rewarding for Diego Simeone's squad. They eliminated Barcelona from both the Copa del Rey and the Champions League despite losing both La Liga matches, with the caveat that Álvarez sat out the Riyadh Air Metropolitano clash.
His La Liga account this season opened on matchday ten against Deportivo, when he swept a wonderful Grimaldo pass into the net to win it for Atlético Madrid.
Four days earlier, the Argentine had found the net against Stuttgart in the Champions League, a game that finished 1-1.
Álvarez is 26, worth 110 million euros, and under contract at Atlético Madrid until 2030. He is their best player and their most decisive, and his rising levels as the season has worn on suggest he is rediscovering his finest form.
Eleven matches this season have brought two goals and two assists, split across 7 appearances in La Liga and 4 in the Champions League.
His first season in an Atlético Madrid shirt was a promising one, taking in 57 matches during 2024-2025: 37 in La Liga, 10 in the Champions League, 7 in the Copa del Rey and 3 in the Club World Cup.
The Argentine racked up 29 goals, including 17 in La Liga, 7 in the Champions League and 5 in the Copa del Rey, and chipped in with 8 assists: 4 in the league, one in the Champions League, two in the Copa del Rey and one in the Club World Cup.
But those figures proved beyond him last season, as his La Liga output dropped. He kept up his good level in the Champions League, though, his goals firing Atlético Madrid into the semi-final.
Across 49 matches came 29 in La Liga, 15 in the Champions League, 4 in the Copa del Rey and one in the Spanish Super Cup.
He scored 20 goals, including 8 in the league, 10 in the Champions League and two in the Copa del Rey, plus 9 assists: 4 in La Liga, 4 in the Champions League and one in the Copa del Rey.
Now the fans await one of the biggest clashes of the season as Barcelona visit the Metropolitano.
The "Spider" hopes to sting the Catalans once again, having made a habit of hurting them in previous meetings, despite them being the very club he wanted to join this past summer.
