Jonathan David subbed out at halftime of Atletico Madrid's Champions League draw at Stuttgart
Jonathan David has had many memorable performances in his career. Atlético Madrid's 1-1 draw away to Stuttgart on Tuesday in the Champions League was not one of them.
The Canadian striker started away to the German side, but only lasted 45 minutes before being withdrawn by Diego Simeone at halftime. David did not manage a shot with any of his 22 touches of the ball, with only one of them coming in the Stuttgart penalty area.
A handful of defensive contributions were not enough to convince his gaffer to send him back out for the second half, with England-born Nigeria international Ademola Lookman coming off the bench and providing an instant impact. Less than two minutes after being introduced, Lookman set up the equalizer for Julian Alvarez - seen as one of David's biggest competitors for minutes.
Lookman's low cross was fired into the top-right corner by Alvarez with his first touch, for his first goal of the new season after struggling to find his form to this point. Alvarez made it clear he wanted to leave the club in the summer and fans have let him hear it, though his next return home might be a bit better received after finally scoring.
🚨🇪🇺: JULIAN ALVAREZ HAS EQUALIZED FOR ATLÉTICO MADRID! There were chances to win the game, especially for the dominant hosts, who had more possession and 18 shots to Atleti's 10.
The task got more difficult for Atleti when Morten Hjulmand was shown a straight red card for an awful studs-up challenge on Angelo Stiller, who needed treatment on the pitch briefly after getting a cleat to the ankle. Hjulmand complained but had no case, and was given his marching orders.
His teammates were still able to see out the point down to 10 men, but Simeone didn't look happy about it as he stormed down the tunnel at the final whistle. His side have four points from three games -losing 2-1 to Liverpool on the night David debuted for the club, before the Canadian played a key role in last week's2-0 win over Manchester United.
Stuttgart have seven points after beating Viking and Slovan Bratislava prior to Tuesday's match. Matchday four promises a mouthwatering Alphonso Davies-Jonathan David clash when Bayern Munich visits Madrid on Nov.
3, hopefully with a strong performance from Canada's two biggest stars with an entire nation watching on. Bayern plays Arsenal in the must-watch game of Wednesday's UCL schedule.