Diego Simeone is willing to be patient with Julian Alvarez, who he feels is vital to getting Atletico Madrid to where they want to be.
Atletico Madrid willing to wait for Alvarez to hit form
Julian Alvarez has had a difficult spell at Atletico Madrid, but Diego Simeone says the striker has the team's full trust.
Alvarez has netted just twice in all competitions this season, while providing three assists.
His latest goal involvement came on Sunday, as he teed up Giuliano Simeone to open the scoring against Barcelona. The Blaugrana, though, went on to win 2-1.
Barca pushed hard to sign Alvarez this past summer, with Atletico refusing to budge and even threatening legal action against the reigning LaLiga champions.
And though Alvarez is yet to hit his peak form, Simeone is willing to wait.
"He's an extraordinary player, we love him dearly, we need him, we need the best Julian, and we're going to work with him," the Atletico boss told Movistar+.
"Of the team's five good scoring opportunities, he was involved in three or four. He just lacked the goal that would have made him stand out, but it will come."
In his post-match press conference, Simeone added of Alvarez: "We all wish he had scored, but we'll wait for him; we need him because if we want to get where we want to go, we need him, otherwise we won't get there."
Asked if Alvarez was suffering from a lack of confidence, Simeone replied: "I'm not in his body, he has our trust."
Alvarez led Atletico for shots (four), touches in the opposition box (seven) and successful dribbles (three), while also creating two chances.
Atletico's defeat snapped a seven-game winning run in LaLiga. They sit third, two points behind second-place Real Madrid and five adrift of leaders Barca.
"I'm left with an outstanding performance from the players, nothing to complain about," Simeone told reporters.
"We put the opposing players in a position where they weren't comfortable. We lacked the clinical finishing we've shown on other occasions, and they're a very confident opponent who capitalised on their chances.
"I'm proud of the lads, I loved it, and I'm very happy with everyone's performance."
