MADRID, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- There might be more than a few raised eyebrows when Atletico Madrid decided to pay around 95 million euros to sign Argentinean striker, Julian Alvarez from Manchester City, but the move is slowly starting to pay off.
Alvarez scored two goals in Atletico's impressive 6-0 win away to Sparta Prague on Tuesday night to give his side three vital points as it looks to assure its place in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Those goals lifted his total to the season to seven, after he opened his account in a win against Valencia in the middle of September, with many wondering why he left the Premier League champion to join a team with fewer options of winning a title in Spain.
Alvarez has scored four goals in La Liga and nearly all of them have been vital, with his efforts against Celta Vigo and Mallorca giving Atletico three points from 1-0 wins in games where its rivals had done enough to take at least a point.
The striker opened the scoring in a 1-1 draw away to Real Sociedad, giving his team a point from another game where it was forced to cling on to save the result.
When Alvarez arrived, it was at times difficult to see where he would fit into a team that had already signed the powerful Alexander Sorloth from Villarreal to lead the line, with Antoine Griezmann firmly established in a deeper role, which looked suited for Alvarez, while Angel Correa has long been a regular with Atletico, adding pace from the substitutes' bench.
Sorloth has needed time to adapt to Atletico, although he did score the winning goal against Alaves at the weekend and for a period Alvarez looked to be trying to find his place in the Atletico starting 11.
However, he has started to show his finishing ability and although Atletico still has a lot of work to do if it wants to assure direct qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League, it is in part thanks to Alvarez that it now looks to be just about assured of at least a place in the play-offs to continue its European adventure. ■
