Diego Simeone revealed Julian Alvarez is not ready to start for Atletico Madrid, who "need" Alexander Sorloth to return from injury.

Sorloth has missed the start of the 2026-27 season with injury and is set to be sidelined again for their Champions League opener against Liverpool on Wednesday.

Alvarez and Sorloth led Atleti in goals last season across all competitions (both 20 – not including the Club World Cup), while only Alvarez (29) and Antoine Griezmann (22) directly contributed to more goals than Sorloth (21).

Atleti also signed Jonathan David on a season-long loan deal from Juventus last week, but he is yet to make his debut.

Simeone believes Sorloth is an important player for Atleti, while Alvarez, whose transfer saga dominated the transfer window after interest from Barcelona, is not ready to lead the line from the start.

"Jonathan arrived very recently and couldn't play the other day [against Athletic Club] due to a problem," said Simeone.

"Julian is still developing; I don't see him starting yet, but he'll help us as the game progresses.

"[Sorloth's] recovering. He has this injury that's keeping him from playing. We need him; he's important, whether it's for 90, 60 or 20 minutes. He gives us things we don't have in the team right now. Hopefully, he'll be back soon."

This will be the 14th consecutive Champions League campaign in which Atleti have featured – they are one of only six sides to feature in every edition since 2013-14, along with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

Atleti's two Champions League wins against Liverpool both came in the round of 16 in 2019-20. The Reds are unbeaten against them in the competition in group stage/league phase meetings, winning three and drawing two of five meetings.

This season's final takes place at Atleti's home stadium, and Simeone is determined to reach the showpiece.

"It's very important for the club that the final is at the Metropolitano," added Simeone.

"For us, we have to work incredibly hard to be able to aspire to that privileged position.

"We're in a growth phase, settling in; there are many new players, the situation with Julian, David's arrival at the end of the transfer window, the national team players who arrived late and nobody cares about them anymore.

"Little by little, we'll find our rhythm."