Atletico Madrid drop Julian Alvarez injury hint ahead of Arsenal showdown | Football

Atletico Madrid have dropped a major hint on the fitness of Julian Alvarez ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal.

The former Manchester City striker’s penalty ensured the tie is evenly poised ahead of Tuesday night’s showdown with the score locked at 1-1.

Alvarez, who has been heavily linked with a move to the north London club in the summer, was taken off with 13 minutes remaining of last week’s game and played no part in Saturday’s 2-0 win at Valencia.

It appears, however, that the Argentina international has made a full recovery after he was named in the squad that will travel to London this afternoon.

Diego Simeone will hold his pre-match press conference later this evening and is likely to confirm his star forward, who has 21 goals in all competitions this season, will be fit to play.

Atletico will, meanwhile, meet an Arsenal side buoyed by their dominant 3-0 win over Fulham on Saturday.

The Gunners, who have struggled for goals in recent weeks, were back to somewhere near their fluent best with Bukayo Saka starring during an opening 45 minute burst.

Viktor Gyokeres also got on the scoresheet twice while Myles Lewis-Skelly impressed in his preferred midfield role.

Mikel Arteta will make a late call on the involvement of Martin Odegaard and it remains to be seen whether or not Jurrien Timber will be part of the matchday squad.

Either way, Arteta was hugely encouraged by his side’s fluency against a Fulham side who have proven to be tricky opponents in the past and hopes Arsenal will carry that confidence into their remaining games.

‘I’m very happy with the team performance, and the individual performances within that performance,’ said Arteta.

‘We knew how difficult it was going to be, especially coming back from Madrid so late on Thursday afternoon and the energy that we spent in that game, and understanding that you don’t want to talk about it if you have a huge game in a few days here.

‘But we talked about hunger and about having the ability to focus and be so determined on what we had to do. 

‘We had some fresh legs from a few players. You could notice that big time because the individual performance increased and then the team flowed in a different way.

‘The moment that we did that, I think we engaged the supporters and when that happens and you create the atmosphere that you saw at the Emirates, we make it very, very difficult for the opponent.’

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