Atlético de Madrid head to Sevilla on Saturday without Julián Alvarez, who will not play at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán. Robin Le Normand will also miss the match because of a one-game suspension, while Cuti Romero is unlikely to start.
The timing matters because Atlético are trying to steady themselves after a 2-2 draw with Villarreal, and Sevilla arrive with two wins from two in La Liga. Sevilla beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1 with a last-second goal, then followed it with a 3-1 victory at Athletic Bilbao, a start that has put them on top of the early conversation in the league.
Alvarez missed his third consecutive team training session, which leaves little doubt about his availability for Saturday. The absence is a blow for Diego Simeone, who is still managing player fitness concerns after the summer’s World Cup and is already working around a suspension in central defense. Atlético have also had encouraging signs from Lee Kang-In and Álex Baena, but those performances do not erase the gaps created by missing starters.
Sevilla’s early run has not just been about results. They have drawn two penalties and received two red cards in their first two league games, a sign of how forcefully they are pressing and how often they are forcing the game into dangerous areas. That has made the rematch more awkward for Atlético, who lost the clubs’ most recent meeting in April, when Sevilla won 2-1 on goals from Akor Adams and Nemanja Gudelj.
What is still not fully clear is how much Simeone can ask of his available options if Alvarez is out and Le Normand is banned. The shape of Atlético’s line will matter as much as the names in it, and Saturday’s trip now looks less like a routine early-season test than a match that could expose how thin the margin is for a side already juggling absences.
