Diego Simeone called Julian Alvarez “one of the best in the world” despite the Atletico Madrid player not being nominated for FIFA’s The Best award.
The forward scored 17 goals and provided four assists in LaLiga last season, while also directly contributing to eight goals in ten Champions League games (seven goals, one assist).
Despite his contributions to Atleti’s attack, it was not enough for Alvarez to earn a place on the shortlist of eleven players for the Best award.
However, Simeone paid no attention to that, but rather praised Alvarez’s quality and chose to focus on Atleti’s upcoming match against Levante.
“I’m not the one who makes these decisions, for us he is a very important player, one of the best in the world,” Simeone said.
“We have him and we have to take care of him. I hope he continues to give us what he gives us.”
“I focus on Levante with great respect, they work well defensively, they have fast people from midfield who go forward.
“We have to take the game to a level where we can hurt them. I can’t imagine another game that won’t be similar to the one they played against us before as visitors.”
Athletes-Levante pic.twitter.com/KzcYe4KCht
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) November 7, 2025
Levante currently sit 16th in LaLiga, 12 places behind Atletico, after winning just nine points from their opening 11 games.
They have failed to win any of their last three matches in the Spanish top flight, but they did progress to the third round of the Copa del Rey with a win over Orihuela.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Atletico Madrid – Giuliano Simeone
Giuliano Simeone has been in good form for Atletico of late, grabbing an assist in their 3-1 win over Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The Argentine has also provided four assists in his last six LaLiga games, the same number as in his previous 30 games in the top flight, and he will be keen to make an impact here again.
Levante – Etta Eyong
Eyong has been involved in six of Levante’s last 11 goals in LaLiga (five goals and one assist), scoring the last two away from home.
The last player to score three consecutive goals for Granota away from home in the competition was Jose Luis Morales in October 2021 (four in a row).
MATCH PREDICTION: ATLETICO MADRID
Although favored by Opta’s pre-match simulations, Atletico have not won any of their last four games against Levante in LaLiga (D2, L2), having won five of the previous six against this weekend’s opponents (D1), their longest winless run against them in the top flight.
At home, Atletico have lost their last two LaLiga matches against Levante – only against Barcelona (three times in a row) has the red and white team lost three or more home games in a row in the competition with Simeone as coach.
However, Atletico have won their last three LaLiga games without conceding a goal and have not won four or more consecutive games without conceding in the competition since December 2020 (W4).
They also scored in each of their eleven LaLiga games in 2025-26 (21 goals), and were able to score in their first twelve games in the same league season for the first time since 1982-83 under Luis Aragones (first 12, 22 goals).
Levante, meanwhile, have picked up points in each of their last four away games in LaLiga (W2 D2), with the last time they went five or more consecutive away games without defeat in the league in December 2018 (W2 D3).
But they have conceded thirteen goals in the second half of LaLiga matches this season, the highest figure along with Girona and Valencia (also thirteen), and they are the team that has scored the lowest percentage of their goals in the last quarter of matches (7% – 1/15).
OPTA CHANCE OF WINNING
Atletico Madrid – 73.7%
Draw – 15.5%
Levante – 10.8%
#Simeone #defends #world #Alvarez #criticism #award #Soccer #News