News · From the live show
Alberto Carballo on Julián: "It's harder to forgive than to apologise"
Forgiven on the pitch, met with indifference off it: he won't buy his shirt, but he will celebrate his goals
Alberto Carballo separates sporting forgiveness from emotional forgiveness in the Julián affair
Alberto Carballo believes Julián Álvarez regrets the manner more than the substance, as he did not deny wanting to join Barça. He separates the sporting side, where he has forgiven him, from the emotional side, where the feeling will never fade.
Rubén Uría asks Alberto Carballo whether the last few hours have changed his view on Julián Álvarez's apology. Carballo is blunt: he thinks it is harder to forgive than to apologise.
He believes the young man has had a rough time and is sorry, but more about the manner than the substance. He points out that in his comments Julián did not deny wanting to leave for Barcelona; what he regrets, in Carballo's view, is how he went about it.
From there he draws a distinction between two levels. On the sporting side, he says he has forgiven him: he asks him to give everything, to be professional and to live up to Atlético's values, and he is doing just that, improving and having been the best player in the last match. On the emotional side, every Atlético fan will deal with it in their own way, and some opinions will change over the course of the season.
His own does not depend on goals: however many he scores, his feeling about Julián will never fade. He doesn't hate him and won't whistle him; what he feels is indifference. He won't go to the club shop to buy his shirt, but if he scores he will celebrate, and if he plays well he will say so. He considers him the team's difference-maker and calls for time, recalling similar cases such as Griezmann's.