Did Simeone keep Julián Álvarez on to spare him from boos?

Why didn't Simeone take off Julián Álvarez? Rubén Uría believes it was to shield him from possible jeers from the whole stadium. Alberto Carballo points to another reason: trusting that a goal could change his mindset.

While the panel agrees that, under normal circumstances, Julián Álvarez would have been one of the first to be substituted, even before Kang-in Lee, Rubén Uría puts forward his theory, one he admits himself could be wrong.

Uría's reading of Simeone's decision to keep Julián Álvarez on the pitch, despite clear signs of heavy fatigue, is that the Argentine was left on to spare him from being booed by the stadium. For Uría, Simeone wanted to protect his player and so chose not to take him off, so as not to single him out and to stop part of the crowd from taking it out on Julián, who had an off night.

Alberto Carballo offers a different explanation: "Simeone knows Julián has goals in him, and if one falls his way it can change his mood and his mindset." Uría sticks to his version and says he thought someone would ask about it at the press conference, although he acknowledges that "the mood wasn't right for it", as it had been a tough night.