Julian Alvarez once again emphasized his growing importance to Manchester City, helping secure a Champions League victory over RB Leipzig.

While Julian Alvarez initially faced the challenge of finding his place in the Manchester City lineup behind Erling Haaland, the dynamic has now shifted towards a more equal footing.

In his debut season with the club, Alvarez contributed to a historic treble and a World Cup victory, despite playing a bit-part role. However, his second season has seen him become indispensable, as noted by his manager, although this week he was unexpectedly left out of the starting lineup.

During the match against RB Leipzig, with City in control but in need of a goal, Pep Guardiola reverted to the system that had led to eight consecutive wins at the beginning of the campaign. He introduced Alvarez to operate in the spaces behind Haaland. With Haaland largely neutralized by the opposition, Alvarez made a significant impact by scoring a brilliant goal and providing a composed assist, turning one point into three.

Alvarez’s contributions this season now include six goals and five assists from 11 appearances, with a goal involvement approximately every 70 minutes. In contrast, last season it was Haaland who dominated the goals-per-minute statistics. However, just two months into the new campaign, the tables have turned, with Haaland now striving to catch up to Alvarez, a testament to the healthy competition within the squad.

Nonetheless, Haaland’s contributions should not be underestimated, as his eight goals and two assists in 10 appearances result in a goal involvement roughly every 89 minutes, which is still quite impressive.

Rico Lewis, when asked about Alvarez’s form this season, highlighted the positive atmosphere within the dressing room and how the competition between the two forwards is pushing them to excel. He acknowledged that last season, they had the world’s best striker, but now someone is pushing him to perform even better.

The Alvarez-Haaland partnership has been pivotal to Manchester City’s early-season success. Guardiola has repeatedly praised Alvarez for his role in the number ten position, which brings City closer to Haaland and creates more scoring opportunities. Even when Haaland isn’t finding the net, he continues to make valuable contributions by creating space for his teammates.

Alvarez’s late heroics against Leipzig may earn him a place in the starting lineup against Arsenal over the weekend, where he could once again be a key goal-scoring threat. Having two in-form goal-scorers vying for a spot in the same lineup is a delightful dilemma for Guardiola, who may think twice before dropping Alvarez, especially if he maintains his current level of productivity, potentially outshining Haaland in terms of goals.

This healthy competition promises to elevate Manchester City’s overall performance as they continue to push each other to excel on the pitch.