Pep Guardiola explained why Julián Álvarez did not enter the match against Leipzig for the Champions League

Why didn’t Julián Álvarez come on against Leipzig for the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League? That was the question many were asking after Wednesday’s 1-1 draw. Of course, there’s no better person to explain it than Pep Guardiolamanager of Manchester City and at the center of various criticisms for the few minutes that Araña has had in recent times.

Manchester City drew 1-1 against Leipzig in Germany and in this way must define their table for the next stage at the Etihad Stadium. But beyond the result, a great peculiarity is that the Catalan coach made no substitutions and, of all those who waited on the bench, Julián Álvarez was unable to enter the pitch.

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In a press conference, and when journalists asked him why the Argentine didn’t add minutes, Guardiola gave his justification. “I was going to put Julián in the second half next to Erling to be more aggressive, but we conceded a goal”commented.

The unfolding match had Manchester City taking the lead after 27 minutes of the first half, at the feet of Algerian Riyad Mahrez. However, twenty minutes before the end of the match, Josko Gvardiol, that Croatian defender humiliated by Lionel Messi in the semi-finals of Qatar 2022, was in charge of tying up the process.

Another question, beyond the Álvarez situation, was why he decided not to move the substitute bench and complete the 90 minutes with the same players who made up the starting XI. “I have the ability to make substitutions because it’s the rules of the game; but I’m a great coach to decide if I have to make substitutions or not”He explained.

Julián Álvarez’s participation in Manchester City after the World Cup

The former River striker, author of 4 goals in the World Cup and one of the great figures of Lionel Scaloni’s team, has not had a large number of playing minutes since his return to the English club after his great participation in the lands of Qatar. Since his return to the team, He was a substitute in 9 out of 15 matches and only came on 5 times.

It is true that he landed in Europe earlier this season and had more action than expected. In total he has made 29 appearances -12 as a starter- since arriving in Manchester and has scored 9 goals in all competitions. Another equally true aspect is that his performance was more than up to par and that, although he is decisive whenever he has minutes, he deserves to have more.

But it is undeniable that it competes with an exceptional. The holder of the office, unquestionably, is the Norwegian Erling Haaland and his numbers this season are impressive. The 22-year-old striker he scored 32 goals in 32 gamesthat is, he averages one goal per game.

The key for Julián Álvarez will be not to despair and being able to exploit, as he has done so far, every opportunity that Guardiola offers him. The coach has made it clear more than once how much he is appreciated for the Spider. “He, of course, is a different competitive player. He doesn’t need to win a World Cup to know what he’s like as a player. Thanks to Argentina, he comes back a better player. It’s great for us.”the coach had commented after obtaining the World Cup from the Argentine national team.