Atlético Madrid have been dealt a fresh and significant blow ahead of their eagerly anticipated clash with Real Sociedad this Sunday evening at the Anoeta stadium, in the fifth round of the Spanish La Liga, after the absence of Argentine striker Julián Álvarez from the match through injury was confirmed.
Álvarez's injury has piled more misery on Diego Simeone. Atlético Madrid's manager already faces a clear crisis in terms of attacking options and available personnel, with a number of players sidelined, chief among them Alexander Sørloth and Pablo Barrios.
Julián Álvarez had left Atlético Madrid's last training session with a physical problem, then underwent the necessary medical examinations to determine whether he could feature against Real Sociedad.
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Atlético Madrid officially left their Argentine striker out of the squad heading to San Sebastián after examinations revealed a muscle strain, ruling him out of the clash with Real Sociedad in the fifth round of La Liga.
The club said in an official statement: "Julián will not travel to San Sebastián due to a muscular injury that forced him to withdraw from yesterday's training session. After carrying out the necessary examinations, the medical staff decided to rule him out of today's match."
The timing could hardly be worse for Simeone. Álvarez had begun to gradually regain his fitness and had become one of the key figures in the Argentine coach's plans at the start of the new season.
He played a full 90 minutes in Atlético Madrid's clash with Liverpool last Wednesday, the first time he had completed an entire match this season.
That full appearance came after a late start to his pre-season, with the controversy surrounding his future at Atlético Madrid delaying his return to training until 10 August.
Things did not go smoothly after his return. The Argentine striker missed around a week through illness, which set back his physical and technical work with the rest of his teammates.
Álvarez still fought his way back into Simeone's plans and featured more prominently. Now the latest muscular injury has revived concerns over his fitness and added to the difficulties facing Atlético Madrid at this stage of the season.