Atlético Madrid full-back Marcos Llorente has stressed that his side desperately need Julián Álvarez to return to scoring, following the shocking 3-0 defeat suffered by Los Rojiblancos against Athletic Bilbao in La Liga on Saturday.
Álvarez came off the bench in the second half at San Mamés with the visitors two goals down, but he could not turn the tide. Atlético slipped to their first defeat of the season. It was the Argentine's first appearance since the summer window closed, after the club refused to negotiate his move to Barcelona and forced him to stay.
Llorente told ESPN: "Julián is a decisive player for us, and he knows that well. He will gradually gel with the team, and the sooner the better because we desperately need his goals, and we must support him so he returns to his 100% level as soon as possible."
The coach fielded no out-and-out striker from the start against Bilbao, trusting Álex Baena and Kang-in Lee in the attacking roles before turning to Álvarez with a little more than half an hour left. Jonathan David, who joined on loan on the final day of the mercato, stayed on the bench.
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Defender Dávid Hancko praised his teammate's movement. "It was clear that he was in good shape and wanted to take responsibility and make a difference. Of course, a striker loses some balls against defensive blocks, but we saw those attacking flashes when he turned and shot with his left foot," he said.
Hancko added: "He makes a difference for us, and I am very happy that he stayed. The whole team supports him and stands behind him, we need him and I think he needs us too."
Two minutes was all it took for Atlético to fall apart after the break. Nico Williams and Robert Navarro struck in the 46th and 48th minutes, before Oihan Sancet added the third late on.
Hancko reflected on the collapse: "You could say we lost the match in just 120 seconds. It was a very bad start to the second half, we lost concentration for two minutes and I don't know if we relaxed after the break. They were difficult moments, and perhaps it's good that this stumble happened early at the start of the season."
Llorente echoed the sentiment: "We threw the match away in the first five minutes of the second half. Those five minutes killed our ambition and afterwards we couldn't impose pressure or score a goal to unsettle the opponent. This should not happen again because we produced a good first half, and we must correct the mistakes and study the reasons for what happened."
A tough week now awaits. Atlético fly to Anfield to face Liverpool in the Champions League, then travel to Real Sociedad in La Liga.