Manchester City drew 0-0 away to FC Copenhagen in Tuesday’s Champions League group game and Julian Alvarez was one of many players who underwhelmed.
The 22-year-old was given a rare start in attack ahead of Erling Haaland but failed to take his chance, so Pep Guardiola is likely to take him out of the firing line when City lock horns with Liverpool on Sunday.
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Alvarez nearly scored in the first half with a low shot fired across goal that was saved by Kamil Grabara, but he didn’t get any closer at the Parken Stadium. The Argentine international had three shots without hitting the target, failed to create a chance for his teammates and made the fewest amount of passes.
Tyrone Marshall of the Manchester Evening News gave Alvarez a player rating of 5/10 and called him ‘anonymous’ after becoming isolated for the final hour of the game. Michael Graham of 90min gave the 22-year-old a player rating of 6/10 and sympathised with his disappointing performance, as City going down to 10 men made his life difficult.
Alvarez has made 12 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring four goals. The former River Plate striker has started more Champions League games (2) than in the Premier League (1) since joining City, so it appears Guardiola still doesn’t trust him enough to hand him more opportunities. Sadly performances like Tuesday evening won’t do him any favours.
In other news, journalists say Riyad Mahrez was ‘poor’ against FC Copenhagen
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