Arsenal’s dominant defence has carried them to the Champions League final – now the real test awaits in Budapest: Winners and losers as Gunners get the job done while Antoine Griezmann and Atletico Madrid bow out with barely a whimper
Atletico have got some big decisions to make this summer, and the first obviously centres around the manager. But they’ve also got to figure out who they’re going to get to replace Julian Alvarez up front – because what little chance they had of holding onto their star striker has now gone.
The Argentina international is a genuinely world-class No.9 and there aren’t many of those around at the moment, which is why Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and several top English teams are so keen to sign Alvarez this summer. Alvarez is clearly keen to leave Atleti, too – and one can hardly blame him, given the shocking lack of service he received at the Emirates.
Maybe things would have been different had he not picked up a knock in the first leg that put his participation in doubt, but even if he’d been firing on all cylinders, it’s unlikely that he’d have been able to make a decisive contribution at the Emirates.
The World Cup winner got one touch in the Arsenal box and had just 29 overall – which was still more than the awful Ademola Lookman and the wasteful Giuliano Simeone.
Some Atleti supporters have been less than impressed with Alvarez’s attitude this season, but the cold, hard truth is that he’s too good for this painfully average Atletico team and his desire to depart will only have intensified after being forced to be a part of such an insipid attacking display.
