The Manchester City forward, who came on to play the last five minutes of the match at the Bernabéu, had a clear goal after the match.
This Tuesday, Real Madrid and Manchester City played a thrilling match that ended 3-3 in the first leg of the Champions League quarter finals.
One point of interest for Argentine fans was Julián Álvarez, who came on to play the last five minutes and wanted to take home an unforgettable souvenir: he asked Luka Modric for his jersey.
The broadcast cameras didn’t fully capture the moment Julián embraced the experienced Croatian star. Nonetheless, the brief video went viral on social media. While the conversation isn’t audible, the purpose of it can be inferred from a gesture made by the Madrid player.
After the hug, Álvarez is seen saying something to his colleague, and Modric makes an unclear arm gesture. Julián accepts the response and gives the Croatian a few pats on the body before heading to the locker room.
It turns out that this exchange couldn’t happen because the Croatian had already promised his jersey to another City player. To whom? Kevin De Bruyne.
A well-known Spanish TikToker, calatayud_alex, shared a video about this situation and stated that ultimately, the Belgian ended up with Modric’s jersey, as evidenced by photos showing the midfielder holding Madrid’s number 10 jersey.
Thus, Julián was left wanting to keep this memory, although he might have a chance to secure the jersey in the return match, depending on the outcome.
In 2024, Julián Álvarez seems to have fallen out of favor with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Erling Haaland’s performance against Real Madrid was not as expected, and fans were hoping for the Argentine to come on and make a difference.
Despite this, the Spaniard only gave him five minutes of playtime, which sparked outrage among fans on social media. This was reflected in the comments on Julián’s post.
