Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone has defended Julian Alvarez again as the striker’s struggles continue.
Alvarez was unable to impress in Atleti’s 3-1 defeat to Barcelona last time out, with the forward now failing to score in four of his last five games in all competitions.
However, his recent form does not tell the story of his season, with the 25-year-old scoring seven goals in 15 LaLiga games and three in four Champions League games.
Simeone will be hoping Alvarez can rediscover his goalscoring skills ahead of Atleti’s visit to Athletic Club, with the Argentine coach losing four of his last seven visits to the Basque team in LaLiga (W2 D1).
But after Alvarez received some criticism for his performance against Barcelona, Simeone came to his player’s defense.
“We are supporting him at a time when he may not be scoring as much,” Simeone said.
“How many goals has he scored since he came here? He scored 39.”
What is your listening age? pic.twitter.com/sqg6wfW0DV
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) December 5, 2025
Athletic are 11 points behind Atleti in fourth place, while Ernesto Valverde’s side have scored just 14 goals in 15 league games this season.
They have won just twice in their last eight games in all competitions (D1 L5), losing 3-0 to Real Madrid in their most recent match.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Athletics club – Nico Williams
Nico Williams has only scored more goals against Rayo Vallecano (four) than against Atleti (two – level with Almeria and Real Valladolid) in LaLiga.
Both of his goals against Atleti have also come in his last four top-flight games against the Rojiblancos.
Atletico Madrid – Antoine Griezmann
Antoine Griezmann has only been directly involved in more LaLiga goals against Valencia (18) than against Athletic (17 – also against Celta Vigo and Sevilla). He scored seven goals and provided ten assists in 31 top games against Bilbao.
MATCH PREDICTION: ATLETICO MADRID WIN
Athletic have lost five of their last six LaLiga games against Atleti (W1), including each of the last three, and could make it their third consecutive loss in the league for the third time in the 21st century after 2006-07 and 2017-18.
They have also lost two of their three LaLiga home games against Atleti since Valverde’s return (W1), having lost none of their previous four against them in San Mames (W3 D1).
Atleti are unbeaten in their last five away games against Basque teams in LaLiga (W2 D3), although they have drawn their last three. They have never gone six or more away games without defeat against such teams in the top flight.
And Athletic have struggled at home this season. They have already lost as many home games in eight LaLiga games this season (W4 D1 L3) as in their previous two campaigns combined (38 games, W23 D12 L3).
However, Atleti have dropped a whopping 14 points from winning positions this season, while Athletic are the only team in the league not to have dropped a single point after leading in matches.
OPTA CHANCE OF WINNING
Athletics club – 31.0%
Draw – 27.4%
Atletico Madrid – 41.6%
#Simeone #returns #defend #Alvaraz #Atletico #Madrids #struggles #Soccer #News