Atletico thrashed 3-0 at Athletic Club as Llorente urges patience with returning Alvarez

Julian Alvarez’s long-awaited return to action could not prevent Atletico Madrid from slumping to a 3-0 defeat at Athletic Club in La Liga at San Mamés on Saturday — the club’s first loss of the season and one that exposed a striking problem Diego Simeone has yet to solve.

Alavarez came off the bench with just over half an hour remaining, entering with Atletico already two goals down and unable to turn the tide. It was his first competitive appearance since the summer window closed, during which the Argentine forward was forced to remain at Atletico after the club refused to entertain a move to Barcelona — a club described as his “dream” destination.

Simeone had started the match without a recognised centre-forward, deploying Alex Baena and Kang-in Lee in the most advanced positions. Jonathan David, the Canadian striker who joined on loan on deadline day, was an unused substitute.

The defeat was effectively settled in a two-minute collapse at the start of the second half. Nico Williams opened the scoring in the 46th minute, Robert Navarro doubled the lead two minutes later, and Oihan Sancet added a third late on to complete a comprehensive home win.

“We threw away the game in the first five minutes of the second half,” Llorente told ESPN. “Those five minutes killed us, and then we weren’t able to put them under pressure and score a goal to scare them a bit. It can’t happen, because we had a good first half. We have to correct it and look at the causes.”

Llorente was clear about what Atletico need from Alvarez as he works back to full fitness. “He knows it. He’ll come in little by little, and the sooner the better, because we need his goals. We have to support him so he’s at 100% soon.”

Defender David Hancko offered an encouraging read of Alvarez’s cameo despite the difficult circumstances. “You could see he was doing well, he wanted to take it on himself,” Hancko told ESPN. “In a low block, of course he’s going to lose some balls. But you could see those sparks — moments when he turned and shot with his left foot. He makes a difference for us. I’m really happy he stayed. We need him and I think he needs us as well.”

Atletico now face a demanding week, travelling to Anfield to face Liverpool in the Champions League before visiting Real Sociedad in La Liga — fixtures that will provide an early indication of whether Simeone can integrate Alvarez quickly enough to address the attacking dependency already flagged after an earlier draw with Villarreal.