As was widely expected, Julian Alvarez started Manchester City's friendly against Barcelona on Wednesday night, and as was the case the last time he took the place of Erling Haaland, he was impressive.
City played out an entertaining 3-3 draw with Barcelona at Camp Nou, a friendly that raised eyebrows due to its timing but was organised for an undoubtedly good cause.
The match was organised in the name of fighting ALS disease - known as motor neurone disease (MND) in the UK - from which former Barca goalkeeper and coach Juan Carlos Unzue suffers. Unzue organised the match with Barcelona, with all proceeds going to ALS charities.
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Regardless of the main reason for the game, Pep Guardiola was keen to use it as an opportunity to give minutes to those in his squad who were lacking them. Alvarez was one such player - he started the Community Shield and City's opening three Premier League fixtures on the bench with Haaland taking centre stage.
As was the case in City's first pre-season game of their US tour against Club America last month - Haaland did not feature - Alvarez lived up to his reputation as a lively, 'street fighter' attacker. From the first whistle until he was withdrawn late on he ran and he ran, chasing lost causes, snapping at the heels of his opponents and sometimes getting perhaps a little too invested in what was an exhibition match.
That was exactly how he got his goal. Sergio Gomez's cross from the left - another impressive new boy - looked to be looping too close to goalkeeper Inaki Pena, but Alvarez pursued it anyway. His presence must have unnerved the goalkeeper, who fluffed a simple catch and gifted Alvarez a tap-in.
Alvarez's relentless running, his tricky dribbling on the ball and the way intelligently dropped off the frontline at times to create space for others, served as a reminder that City can still attack like they did in each of the last two seasons.
Yes, they now have the imposing, terrifyingly quick and robotically efficient Haaland to thread balls to; the bad cop. But they also have the loveable, hard-working but always smiling Alvarez who will always be ready to step in and give City's opponents a false sense of security; the good cop.
Good luck to any team that sees him in City's line-up instead of Haaland and thinks they're in for an easier ride. Both strikers are very different, but both know exactly how to get results.
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