Julián Alvarez on Barcelona interest, set for Champions semi-final | OneFootball

The Argentine forward spoke about a possible departure from Atlético de Madrid ahead of the clash with Arsenal.

Heading into the UEFA Champions League semifinals, Julián Alvarez was one of the main doubts as he was recovering from the muscle injury that had been troubling him. However, he himself made sure to confirm his availability and then took a few seconds to break his silence about Barcelona’s interest, with the transfer window drawing ever closer.

The Atlético de Madrid striker had been dealing with discomfort in his thigh, which had put him in doubt for this Wednesday’s match against Arsenal in the first leg of the continental competition. Despite that, La Araña was emphatic in the pre-match press conference and, before speaking about his future after mid-year, stated: “I’m at 100%.”

As expected, Julián was asked about the persistent rumors of a move to Barcelona in the next transfer window. “I try not to pay too much attention to what they say because every week a new story comes out,” Alvarez said firmly, without hesitation, as soon as he received the journalist’s question in the room.

Along the same lines, he expanded on the subject. “I’m focused here on achieving great things here,” said the World Cup winner with Argentina at Qatar 2022. “I can’t come out and clarify or deny everything that keeps coming out all the time, I’m focused on helping the team,” the Atlético attacker added immediately afterward.

As for the knockout tie against the Gunners, the Calchín native was clear. “People always talk about whether there’s a favorite, but we’re only thinking about what we have to do,” he said at first. Then he completed his answer by adding: “We’re clear on what we have to do and what we’re capable of. We have to stay focused on that.”

At the same time, he spoke about his objective in the tie and revealed: “A perfect match would be to win, I’m going to give everything I have to help the team and win because we want to play in that final.” He also stressed: “We wanted to be champions and in recent days we’ve talked about it as a group and our objective is very clear. We’re having a very good season, we want to make history.”

Lastly, he assessed Atlético de Madrid’s season in terms of results. “Last year by March we were already out of these competitions, and getting this far makes us proud of that,” Julián said without hesitation. “We have to bounce back from the blow and we’re going to do everything possible to reach the final,” he concluded once again ahead of the semifinals against Arsenal.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.