In Focus: Understudy Alvarez is seizing his chance at City

Julian Alvarez is stepping up to the plate for Manchester City.

Goal machine Erling Haaland may be stealing the limelight at the Etihad but the Norwegian's understudy has shown his quality time and time again this season. 

An eye-catching display when he came in for Haaland against Liverpool earlier this month was followed by a cameo from the bench in Saturday's 4-1 demolition of Southampton. 

The striker, 23, netted in both of those games to take his Premier League tally to seven, while he has also bagged two in the Champions League and three in the FA Cup as City chase glory on three fronts. 

Ahead of tonight's showdown with Bayern Munich, we reflect on the increasing importance of the Argentine assassin to Pep Guardiola's side.

No Haaland? No problem

In the absence of an injured Haaland, Alvarez started against Liverpool and did not miss a beat.

The Cordoba native kick-started City's comeback victory by tucking home a Jack Grealish cross before finding Riyad Mahrez in space with a stunning cross-field pass that led to a second.

There was more to come. 

It was Alvarez's goal-bound effort — stopped by Alisson — that fell to the feet of Ilkay Gundogan, who smashed in a third to all but kill the game.

City went on to win 4-1 and would repeat that scoreline against the hapless Saints, who had the returning Haaland to deal with before Alvarez replaced him after 69 minutes.

Pep talk

City boss Guardiola applauded Alvarez's ability to fill in for Haaland after his side disposed of the Reds on April 1. 

He said: "When we have Erling, we have something special. And Julian is something special, too.

"[He] scored a perfect goal, the action was brilliant, [then] the vision in the second one to play in Riyad. He was involved in the first three goals.

"He was so clever with the ball, he's an exceptional player. The club made an exceptional signing with him — he's a world champion alongside Lionel Messi because he has something."

Moving menace

Alvarez joined City in January 2022 but finished last season with River Plate before packing his bags for Manchester. 

And the Etihad faithful will happily tell you, his contributions off the ball make him a different proposition to Haaland.

The 20-cap international is an aggressive presser and he also enjoys getting involved in build-up play, creating pockets of space for team-mates to attack and pass into.

Crouch doffs his cap

As someone who is no stranger to finding the net, former Liverpool and England striker Peter Crouch has been impressed by what he has seen from Alvarez. 

He said: "I think he gets into every other Premier League team in the country.

"Because he's behind Haaland, he's not had the games he would have liked.

"But he's a constant menace. He's constantly on the move, he's unselfish, he draws players towards him, he works hard.

"He's got everything. He's a team player and he chips in with goals."

Bring on Bayern

With Bayern standing in their way, City will be keen to get off to a good start in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final this evening. 

Having axed Julian Nagelsmann and replaced him with Thomas Tuchel last month, the Bundesliga champions have shown they can be ruthless. 

In Tuchel, they have a manager who knows how to win the Champions League having guided Chelsea to glory in 2020-21 — when they beat City in the final.  

But with options galore at his disposal, including the eager Alvarez, ex-Bayern boss Guardiola will be confident of revenge.