Julian Alvarez’s Absence: Why He’s Not Playing for Atletico Madrid Against Liverpool in Today’s Champions League Match

Atletico Madrid will start their Champions League journey away from home, facing Premier League champions Liverpool at Anfield. However, the team will be without their top forward Julian Alvarez.

Alvarez suffered a right knee strain in a recent match against Villarreal, which forced him to leave the game at halftime. Medical tests have confirmed that he will be sidelined for several weeks, missing the game on Tuesday.

While Liverpool manager Arne Slot will have newly signed striker Alexander Isak making his competitive debut, Simeone needs to adjust without two key attackers. In addition to Alvarez, Thiago Almada is also out due to a muscle injury sustained while on international duty with Argentina.

Atletico has more injury concerns, with Johnny Cardoso, Alex Baena, and Jose Maria Gimenez also unavailable, leaving Simeone short-handed for this challenging matchup. New signing Giacomo Raspadori is expected to step in to start alongside Antoine Griezmann.

Confirmed lineups

Given the injury situation, Simeone will field the following lineup against Liverpool: Jan Oblak; Marcos Llorente, Clement Lenglet, Javi Galan, Robin Le Normand; Conor Gallagher, Pablo Barrios, Giuliano Simeone, Nico Gonzalez; Antoine Griezmann, Giacomo Raspadori.

Liverpool’s only missing player is midfielder Curtis Jones. Despite this, with Isak alongside Salah and Gakpo in attack, Liverpool will still pose a strong challenge to Simeone’s squad.

Liverpool’s lineup for tonight’s game is: Alisson; Andrew Robertson, Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Jeremie Frimpong; Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch; Florian Wirtz, Cody Gakpo, Alexander Isak, Mohamed Salah.

Gianni Taina is a bilingual journalist, fluent in English and Spanish, with a specialization in soccer, the NBA, and tennis. He began his professional career in 2020 with Mundo Deportivo US, where he first established himself as a writer. Throughout his career, Gianni has covered major sports events such as the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the NBA Finals, and Grand Slam tournaments like the French Open. His ability to report on real-time events and perform well under pressure has made him a valuable member of a top-tier team of journalists. In 2024, he joined Bolavip US, where he now covers a wide range of sports, including European soccer, MLS, and the NBA.