Looks like Atlético de Madrid are bad about New Year’s Resolutions. too. Heading into the 2026 portion of the campaign, Atlético needed to show that they were going to buck the trend of their poor away
form. The red and white club’s performance in San Sebastián shows that last month’s win at Girona was but a blimp on the radar.
Simeone’s men, who showed very poor away form in 2025, got up to their old tricks again on Sunday night. After struggling to break Pellegrino Matarazzo and Real Sociedad’s new pressing system, Atleti broke through five minutes into the second half when Giuliano Simeone’s scintillating run and assist for Alexander Sørloth had the Rojiblancos on course for a win to begin this important month.
But poor defending was Atleti’s undoing again. Matarrazzo, the American-born former Hoffenheim and Stuttgart boss, had his team playing a more identifiable style in 14 days than Atleti have been able to produce all season. After registering eight first-half shots, La Real equalized after Take Kubo’s ball found an unmarked Gonçalo Guedes in the penalty area.
On another day, Real Sociedad win this match, but the result is fair. The txuri-urdin had their chances to win and looked like the better side for a majority of the match, but they were missing that final touch. Similarly, Antoine Griezmann and Conor Gallagher missed two big chances that would have given Atlético their second goal of the night.
Let’s dive into some takeaways.
Please be OK, Pablo Barrios
Speaking of Atlético repeating bad habits, a key player has picked up an injury right as the schedule gets busy. Pablo Barrios was one of the bright spots until he was subbed off with calf discomfort.
Until he was brought off, Barrios had just two unsuccessful passes, while he made three clearances and three recoveries. A midfield looking for structure and poise needs him. A team already lacking flow and creativity in their attack simply cannot afford for Barrios to miss extended time.
A lack of punch on the left
Matteo Ruggeri did not impress in his 45 minutes at Reale Arena. Kubo had him guessing throughout and baited the Italian into a yellow card, which prompted Diego Simeone to remove him for Robin Le Normand at halftime. Dávid Hancko appeared to slot in at left back following the change, but that’s not his natural position, nor what he was brought in to do.
With the sale of Javi Galán made official, Los Colchoneros find themselves with a big hole to fill on the left hand side of the field. This lack of quality in defense on the left played a huge part in La Real’s equalizer, as Le Normand was gone fishing and vacated half of the box to Guedes. Sporting director Mateu Alemany’s priority in the winter window needs to be to bring in a left-back; Atleti have been linked with Bayer Leverkusen’s Alejandro Grimaldo and Botafogo’s versatile Vitinho.
From an attacking point of view, Álex Baena does not appear to be the answer in that left-wing role, given his tendency to drift into the middle of the park. Whether it be Baena, Nico Gonzalez or Thiago Almada, there just hasn’t been a consistent answer to generate attacking pressure from that side since Samu Lino was sold to Flamengo over the summer. Legitimate rumors for a left winger are few and far between, but if you’re a user of x.com, surely you’ve seen the whispers of Yannick Carrasco making a second return to the club.
The slumping spider
Another day, another match in which Julián Alvarez just couldn’t seem to regain his quality. In LaLiga, the Argentine has two goals and one assist in his last 12 appearances, and he has not scored a non-penalty goal in the league since the end of September. La Araña has not scored in an away LaLiga match since matchday one in August.
So we have to ask again: what is wrong with Julián? Did the chatter about Barcelona’s interest really get to him?
The Real Sociedad match was another in a string of uninspiring displays. Despite a lot of running and intent, Alvarez managed just two low-quality shots at Álex Remiro, won one ground duel and lost the ball 11 times.
The worst possible preparation for what’s to come?
Up next for Atleti is a mid-week Supercopa de España semifinal in Jeddah. In the season’s second Derbi Madrileño, Real Madrid will undoubtedly be motivated to get revenge on their cross town rivals following the 5-2 thrashing earlier this season. Los Blancos warmed up for the match by thrashing Real Betis, 5-1, earlier on Sunday.
In two weekends’ time, Atlético will face Deportivo Alavés in the Metropolitano, in a match that instantly becomes a must-win given today’s result.
Point blank, this is not good enough for Atleti, who still sit fourth behind Villarreal (who have two games in hand). The gap to league leaders Barcelona has grown to 11 points. Money has been spent, and a lot of new players have arrived, but are the right players arriving?
Outside of his recent poor form, Alvarez has been an A-plus signing. Hancko and Marc Pubill also appear to be great signings. Baena is still looking for his spot in Simeone’s system, but it’s clear he’s a talent the club will eventually rely on. Cardoso has also shown signs, but has battled with nagging injuries.
The bigger problem is that about €170 million has been spent on Ruggeri, Le Normand, Gallagher, Sørloth, Thiago Almada and Giacomo Raspadori. Do you see any of those players making a long-term sustainable impact? Are any of those title-contending signings? Could you see all of those players being in the squad after this summer?
Alemany was brought in to efficiently spend the money Los Rojiblancos have, especially after the ownership change takes place later this spring. It seems pretty clear that these were not good signings. Atleti need answers at key positions, and they need them fast.
