Atlético Madrid travel to the San Mamés stadium to face Athletic Bilbao tomorrow, Saturday, in the fourth round of the Spanish league. The match marks the return of Julián Álvarez to the Atleti squad after the transfer window slammed shut and the player stayed put at the Metropolitano fortress, his dream move to Barcelona now dead.
The Argentine dominated Diego Simeone's pre-match press conference, exactly as everyone had predicted.
Sport newspaper published Simeone's remarks, in which he said: "Álvarez is training very well, and tomorrow he will be among the list of those called up, and he will be part of the group that will travel to Bilbao to play the match."
The coach stressed: "We expect the best from Álvarez, just as we expect the best from all of his team-mates."
Pressed on how Álvarez had turned his situation around, Simeone kept quiet on whether the striker would start or sit on the bench. The press conference lasted just six minutes. Yet he found time for a lengthy reflection, insisting the player has a chance to learn in life.
"I want to be very clear," Simeone said. "For me, life is full of opportunities. And perhaps this is the opportunity that has been given to Julián Álvarez, in order to put many things in his life in order."
He added: "We spend all our time learning, and unfortunately we spend a very long time passing judgement. We all judge; this one and that one. We must reduce passing judgement and care more about learning."
"I believe that the step Julián will take in his life will be pure learning," he continued. "And he has an opportunity to make all the things he has to resolve internally turn him into a better person."
His parting words on Álvarez came down to one wish: to see the striker happy. "To see him happy, that is what we want. For him to be well and happy, to be comfortable, and to give us the goals."
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