Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez is said to be nursing a small fitness issue ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final meeting with Arsenal
Cristhian Mosquera has claimed Arsenal would be wrong to solely focus on stopping Julian Alvarez against Atletico Madrid – even if the World Cup winner is a “special” striker.
The Spain international centre-back, who could have previously signed for Atletico during his time at Valencia, has his eyes firmly set on securing a place in the Champions League final ahead of his return to his homeland.
Mosquera told EFE when quizzed on the prospect of facing Alvarez: “Atletico has many great players, very high quality, and Julian is one of them. He’s a special striker, but we’re focused on the team, on Atletico. It’s obvious that a player like Julian can make a difference, but we’re a very solid team, we’ll stick together, we’ll work harder than anyone.”
Arsenal have kept a whopping 28 clean sheets in all competitions this term following their 1-0 shutout of Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday. They’ve also conceded just five goals in 12 Champions League matches (eight clean sheets).
But this time around, they’ll have their work cut out trying to keep the likes of Alvarez (if fit), Alexander Sorloth and Antoine Griezmann quiet at the Wanda Metropolitano.
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There has been some doubt over Alvarez’s availability as he has missed Atletico’s past four La Liga matches.
He was excluded from Diego Simeone’s squad entirely for the 3-2 defeat at Elche last week and was an unused substitute against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday evening.
Arsenal beat Atletico 4-0 in the Champions League group phase back in October and when asked whether the Spaniards will be out for revenge, Mosquera said: “Ugh, I don’t know what to tell you! It’s true that when you lose, you come in with that feeling of having lost, with not-so-good feelings, but at the same time, you have the ambition to want to change things.
“Their recent form hasn’t been so good, but we can’t focus on that. We have to focus on ourselves, on working hard, on the day-to-day, and on preparing for this match.”
Atletico are cruising towards a top-four finish in La Liga so have earned the luxury to rest players ahead of their meeting with Arsenal, who are still fighting it out for the Premier League title.
Mosquera was also asked whether that could be an advantage for Simeone’s troops, to which he replied: “The schedule has become like this; this is football today. There are more and more matches, more competitions, and we have no choice but to adapt.
“But we like it too, because having so many matches means you’re still alive in several competitions, and we have to see that as an opportunity.”
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