Julian Alvarez Shines in Atletico Training

Julian Alvarez walked out at Majadahonda on Monday looking like the same player. He did not train like the same player.

Atletico Madrid returned to work for the first time since their league clash with Athletic Bilbao, with Diego Simeone able to call on almost his entire squad. Only the injured Sorloth was missing. The structure of the session felt familiar: recovery work for the starters from San Mames, a demanding, high-intensity block for the substitutes and unused players.

That is where the story changed.

Simeone Turns Up the Intensity

Simeone set up a training match built on his core principles: press high, win the ball back fast, move it sharply. According to Spanish outlet As, the exercise revolved around those three ideas, repeated and refined.

Julian Alvarez and Jonathan David led the line. Koke dictated the tempo from midfield, while Dominguez, Koke, Le Normand and Dani Martinez formed the defensive unit in the practice game, shuffling, stepping up, dropping off on Simeone’s cue.

Inside that framework, Alvarez suddenly looked liberated.

A Forward Transformed

In recent weeks, the Argentine had cut a frustrated figure, weighed down by the fallout from his push to join Barcelona and Atletico’s firm refusal to let him go. On Monday, that version of Alvarez vanished.

He moved constantly, drifting into pockets, dropping deep to receive, demanding the ball. He took more touches, linked play, and did not hide when the pitch narrowed. At one point he capped a flowing move with a superb finish, a goal described as eerily similar to the one he produced at San Mames.

It was not just the finish. It was the intent. The body language. The willingness to run.

Extra Work, Extra Noise

When the main session ended, most of the squad eased into their stretches. Alvarez did not. He stayed out with one of Atletico’s fitness coaches, running while his teammates wound down.

Lap after lap, building back the sharpness he had lost. The message felt clear: he wants his place, and he is prepared to sweat for it.

Around the pitch, voices rose in support. Teammates and staff could be heard cheering him on, a notable shift from the tension that had surrounded him during the transfer saga. The crisis that engulfed him after the failed move to Barcelona has not been erased, but the mood has changed.

Alvarez is behaving like a player who has accepted his reality and decided to fight. For Simeone and Atletico, that might be the most important development to come out of Majadahonda all week.