Julián Álvarez had a devastating start: goal and assist in just 5 minutes to continue his streak with Atlético de Madrid

It took Julián Álvarez just 50 seconds to score his goal - the one that gave Barcelona a 1-0 lead in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final - another one for Atlético de Madrid, where he joined half a season ago and where he has already scored 20 goals in 39 games , a record that confirms that the Argentine is one of the best forwards around at the moment.

In a furious start, before the first minute of play, the Argentine National Team striker connected with a curling cross from Antoine Griezmann at the far post, which was then headed in by Clement Lenglet and scored the 1-0. Previously, the former River player had opened the scoring with a header that forced a good response from goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny. There was a measured celebration from Cholo Simeone.

Then, before the 5th minute, he also scored with an assist: the goal was from the Frenchman, but a lot of the credit goes to Julián, who recovered the ball in his own half, escaped down the left and set up his attacking partner.

Never before, not even at River , has Julián been as on fire as he has been in these months of adventure in the city of Madrid, where he scores a goal every 3.55 shots. He has already scored 20 goals this season in 39 games (he has played in all of his team's matches so far this season), four in the last four matches.

"I'm very happy personally and I hope it helps the team a lot more," said the Cordoba native with his usual calm, after Saturday's double in the 3-0 win over Valencia at Mestalla.

Still, Julián is going for more. It is not yet his best scoring season, surpassed by the 26 goals in 56 games with River Plate in 2020-21, nor his best average, because in 2021-22 he scored a goal every 119.

However, it is above the 2018-19 campaigns (a goal every 243 minutes), 2019-20 (every 162) and 2020-21 (every 149 minutes) with the Núñez club and those of 2022-23 and 2023-24 with Manchester City, every 148 and 183 minutes, respectively, all according to data from Be Soccer Pro.