Alvarez's free-kick heroics leave Simeone in awe as Atleti win derby thriller

Diego Simeone was in awe at Julian Alvarez's dead-ball heroics after the Argentine scored another stunning free-kick in Atletico Madrid's 5-2 derby win over Real Madrid.

Atleti halted their city rivals' perfect start to their first LaLiga campaign under Xabi Alonso on Saturday, edging a seven-goal thriller at the Estadio Metropolitano.

After Los Blancos recovered from an early Robin Le Normand header to lead 2-1 via Kylian Mbappe and Arda Guler, Alexander Sorloth dragged Atleti level at 2-2 in first-half stoppage time,

From then on, it was the Alvarez show as he converted a 51st-minute penalty then beat Thibaut Courtois with a wonderful free-kick 12 minutes later.

Alvarez now has five goals in his last two LaLiga games, while he is one of only two players in Europe's top five leagues to score multiple direct free-kick goals this season, alongside Bayer Leverkusen left-back Alejandro Grimaldo.

After Antoine Griezmann's clinching goal made sure of Atleti's win, Simeone compared Alvarez's set-piece quality to that of club icon Milinko Pantic.

"He's an extraordinary player, I don't know how he manages to score those goals from free-kicks! He reminds me of Pantic," Simeone said.

"What I value most is the humility he has, no matter who he plays against. He can be very important in the history of the club."

Alvaraz became only the second player to net a penalty and a direct free-kick in the same LaLiga match this century, after Luis Suarez did so in January 2021 against Cadiz.

Atleti managed more shots than their neighbours (13 to six), while also winning the expected goals (xG) battle by 2.34 to 0.66.

Asked what he liked about Atleti's performance, Simeone said: "Everything, from the start of the match until the moment it ended. 

"We always knew the game we wanted to play. When the team takes this performance level to the pitch, it makes us happy."