Atlético Madrid’s horrid away form continued Wednesday, as the Rojiblancos now have won just one of their last five away matches in the Champions League. Atlético squandered a golden opportunity to all but secure a top eight-position in the final Champions League table. “Squandered” may actually be an understatement based on what I witnessed. If you can think of more extreme adjectives to describe the performance, feel free to drop them in the comments.
Atletii looked far and away the better side
for the first hour of the match. Giuliano Simeone was rewarded for his relentless energy and effort with a lovely headed goal, Marc Pubill kept Victor Osimhen firmly in his pocket, even while playing on a yellow card for most of the match, and the midfield played with cohesion and confidence. Los Colchoneros were unfortunate to concede an own goal that deflected in off Marcos Llorente. The Spaniard ultimately redeemed himself, however, clearing away a wide open chance for the Turkish club in the dying moments that would have seen Atleti return to Madrid empty handed.
Let’s dive into some takeaways.
Suspect substitutions
You could make the argument that Atleti’s chances of finding a winning goal ended the moment Robin Le Normand replaced Pablo Barrios. Over the course of the 2025 26 season, it has become abundantly clear that Barrios is Atlético Madrid’s most important player, and the match changed entirely once he left the pitch.
The decision to remove Alexander Sørloth for the final 30 minutes while continuing to send long crosses toward the 5’9” pairing of Antoine Griezmann and Álex Baena was head scratching, to say the least. With Julián Alvarez enduring a slump in form, Atléti are unfortunately reliant on Sørloth to consistently generate goal scoring chances.
And with Alvarez, it is becoming glaringly obvious that he is not anywhere close to the level he showed last season. However, substituting him for a still-recovering Nico González is simply not a sound tactical decision. Alvarez has been poor, but he remains Atlético Madrid’s best attacking option. In a situation where a goal is needed, you have to live and die with La Araña.
An aggravating attack
Between the poor form of Baena and Alvarez, the growing dependence on Sørloth, Thiago Almada failing to become the signing many had hoped for and prime Griezmann feeling like a distant memory, Atlético Madrid have a serious problem in attack.
Today’s match saw Baena and Almada turn in uninspired 45-minute halves. The former has struggled to find his place in the team over the past several months, while the latter continues to be linked with a move away from the club.
With Baena, the quality is clearly there, and it is hard to believe that two unfortunate injuries earlier in the year suddenly stripped him of it. Prior to donning the red and white stripes, Baena ranked among the league leaders in chance creation. Simeone simply cannot seem to unlock that same style of play for him. The flashes are there, but time is starting to run out and Atleti need answers.
Almada possesses excellent skill on the ball, but the fundamentals are lacking. The signing did not make much sense at the time and was met with mixed reviews from supporters, despite the player’s obvious talent. Personally, I do not see a clear path forward for the Argentina international.
On the topic of Argentines, Julián Alvarez has extended his goalless games streak to seven. We’ve talked about this countless times on this website. The world is starting to take notice. What can be done to pull Julián out of this slump?
My admittedly-novice take is that Simeone appears to be deploying Alvarez in more of a 10 role rather than the 9 position where La Araña is most comfortable. The intent seems to be for Alvarez to replicate the late 2010s Antoine Griezmann role, when the Frenchman was competing for Ballon d’Or honors and Atlétic0 were challenging for LaLiga and Champions League trophies. Perhaps a tactical adjustment could see Baena drop into the 10 role, a position in which he truly excels. Simeone needs to explore every option.
I laugh as I type this, but Alexander Sørloth has become Atlético Madrid’s primary attacking option, and the club has grown far too dependent on the Norwegian, particularly during Alvarez’s slump. In the first five matches of 2026, Atléti have scored just five goals. Who has accounted for four of them? You guessed it.
Barring a masterful Griezmann free kick against Deportivo La Coruña, that tally very easily could have been four goals in four matches and an elimination from the Copa del Rey. Sørloth is a fine player who has shown his quality, but he cannot be the main option if Atlético Madrid expect to compete for trophies.
Win and (maybe?) you’re in
Los Colchoneros currently sit 12th with 13 points in the Champions League table. A win against Galatasaray would have seen them climb into the top five. The top eight is far from guaranteed at this stage, even with a victory against Bodø/Glimt.
What are the scenarios in which Atlético qualify for the top 8? Let’s take a closer look.
- First, Atlético Madrid need to win their match against Bodø/Glimt to reach 16 points.
- A win by multiple goals is a necessity, as Atlético have just a plus-3 goal difference after seven matchdays.
- Four teams from the group PSG, Newcastle, Chelsea, Barcelona, Sporting and Manchester City will need to lose or draw. PSG face Newcastle, which guarantees at least one drop, possibly two if they draw.
- Chelsea clash with Napoli, Barcelona face Copenhagen, Sporting take on Athletic Club and Manchester City play Galatasaray.
- Napoli, Copenhagen, Athletic, and Galatasaray all have Champions League play-off qualifying positions to fight for.
Are Atlético out of contention for the top 8 in the Champions League? Absolutely not. Is it going to be easy? Absolutely not. Is anything with this team ever easy? Absolutely not.
Next up for Atlético Madrid is an early afternoon Sunday kickoff at home against Mallorca, who are battling relegation.
