Atletico de Madrid opened a four-game preseason slate with a friendly against local rivals Getafe on Tuesday night. The match was held at Atlético’s Cerro del Espino training complex in the Majadahonda suburb of Madrid.
Ademola Lookman notched a brace in the first half before Arnau Ortiz and Obed Vargas added goals of their own after halftime as Atleti secured a 4-1 victory against what was largely Getafe’s B team, in a game held without fans in attendance.
In addition, media could film only the first
15 minutes of the first half, leaving potential viewers to resort to Twitter or Instagram to find live text updates.
(It’s wild that a club valued at €2.5 billion cannot broadcast a preseason friendly on an in-house TV channel.)
Here’s what I found, in the form of takeaways, as Diego Simeone begins to prepare his Atlético side for the long season ahead.
Lookman at the double
Lookman opened the scoring inside five minutes as Dávid Hancko picked him out with a line-splitting through ball. He quickly back-heeled the ball to strike partner Miguel Cubo, but Djené Dakonam was able to scramble it away from the Atlético Madrileño forward. Fortunately, Rodri Mendoza had continued on his run, and he lashed a shot off the post that left David Soria motionless. Lookman, in the right place at the right time, simply tapped in the opener with his left foot.
Half an hour later, Morten Hjulmand found Carlos Martín on the right, and the canterano sent in a low cross to the far post. Lookman was there to finish off the move to make it 2-0. The Nigeria star was subbed off at halftime, having scored with both of his shot attempts.
Expectations are high for Lookman entering his first full season at Atlético. In 24 appearances after he arrived from Atalanta in February, Lookman scored nine goals and provided four assists across 1,367 minutes played — one goal every 100 minutes or so. If he’s fit, he can score 15 goals with his eyes closed.
The Getafe friendly merely reinforced that Lookman will have a key role in Simeone’s attack this season, especially as uncertainty continues to swirl around Julián Alvarez and Alexander Sørloth.
The 3-4-1-2: Domínguez shines at the back, Mendoza closest to the forwards
In the first half, Atlético attacked in a 3-5-2/3-4-1-2 and shifted to a 4-4-2 out of possession. Rodrigo Mendoza — who has enjoyed a spectacular preseason, by all accounts — played closer to goal and attacked the box ahead of a Koke-Morten Hjulmand double pivot.
Hjulmand was more positional relative to Koke; the captain was given more opportunity to join the attack. Simeone could be heard giving many directions to Hjulmand, who communicated frequently with Koke and entirely in Spanish (it appears he has picked up the language quickly after playing three years in Portugal).
It also sounds like Lookman was positioned on the left wing until Atlético moved the ball close to the area. It was then that he would move closer to goal and line himself up for poaching opportunities.
Also of note was the performance of 16-year-old center-back Jorge Domínguez, who will play under Fernando Torres’ orders at Atlético Madrileño this season. Domínguez has the look of a defensive phenom; he stands 6’4” and has already caught Simeone’s attention for his ball-playing ability. He signed his first professional contract last December and already has made eight appearances for Spain’s under-17 side.
In the second half, Simeone changed the team entirely — and with it, the formation. Johnny Cardoso and Obed Vargas replaced Koke and Hjulmand in the middle, with Madrileño midfielder Jorge Castillo ahead of them. Sergio Esteban played as the 9 for a while before Iker Luque took over upon the former’s substitution, but it was Arnau Ortiz from the left wing who provided the goal of the match in the 55th minute: he took down a Josema Giménez long ball, dribbled around Soria and slotted past a waiting defender on the goal line.
Extrapolating the 3-4-1-2 into the season, it’s easy to see Álex Baena or Lee Kang-in taking Mendoza’s place behind the forwards, and Álex Grimaldo will start over Ruggeri at left wing-back — both to maintain width and to tuck in as another midfielder to keep possession. Simeone testing a 4-2-3-1/4-5-1 shape in this match also offers an insight into where the new signings could play — Baena inverting from the left wing, Lee from the right — and internal competition is going to be high.
Nowhere is that clearer than in midfield, where Mendoza are Vargas are not just fighting for minutes: they’re fighting to stay at the club. One or both players could be loaned out, though the latter scenario is considered unlikely; my preference continues to be that they both stay and continue to add minutes steadily. With four competitions on the 2026/27 agenda, there will be minutes for everyone.
Why didn’t Pablo Barrios play?
Barrios and Thomas Lemar were the only available first-team players who weren’t called up against Getafe, which — understandably — prompted immediate concern that Barrios had re-injured himself.
But have no fear, according to our pals at Atlético Stats.
Barrios reportedly is still following his specialized preseason regimen and did individual work on Monday. So “in theory” the medical staff is simply ramping him back up after repeated muscle injuries disrupted his 2025/26 season and stopped him from going to the FIFA World Cup.
Koke and Oblak begin a 13th (and last?) season together
“Koke and Oblak,” wrote Marca’s David Medina on Twitter. “And that makes 13 seasons together.”
The futures of Koke and Jan Oblak will hang over the 2026/27 season. Oblak is into the final two years of his contract, but has been tipped for an exit in recent summers; Koke has renewed for one more season, possibly his last for his boyhood club. An Atlético without the first and second captains is closer than we think.
Koke was already here when Cholo Simeone returned to the club in 2011, and the coach’s first order of business was to halt his proposed loan move to Málaga. Oblak joined two-and-a-half years later, just after Atleti became the unlikeliest of Spanish champions, and turned out to a better Thibaut Courtois replacement than we could have imagined.
They played just the opening 45 minutes on Wednesday evening, but it marks the start of yet another season together for Koke and Oblak — who, alongside Giménez, are Simeone’s longest-serving players. To think all four of them could be gone by this time next year…well, maybe it raises the urgency just a little bit to win a trophy in 2027.
So here’s to another season with Koke and Oblak, two of the finest players ever to pull on the Atlético de Madrid shirt.
Atleti XI (min. 1-45): Oblak; Domínguez, Le Normand, Hancko; Ruggeri, Carlos Martín, Koke, Hjulmand; Mendoza; Lookman, Cubo.
Atleti XI (min. 45-90): Esquivel; Boñar, Giménez, Dani Martínez, Arnau Solà; Iker Luque, Vargas, Johnny, Castillo, Arnau; Sergio Esteban.
Goals Lookman 5’ 35’ Álvaro Gutiérrez 40’ Arnau 55’ Vargas (p) 90’
