Atlético Madrid have done it again. Álex Baena struck in the 89th minute at the RCDE Stadium to hand Atleti a second consecutive late win on the road in La Liga.
It was a slow game, but one Atleti controlled from start to finish without ever finding the goal that control deserved. Then, when it mattered most, the Rojiblancos turned up the heat in the closing stages, and Baena’s superb finish from the edge of the box sealed all three points.
The result brought Atleti to within two points of Barcelona
ahead of the leaders’ trip to third-placed Real Betis, though Barça eventually ran out 5-2 winners at La Cartuja. It also makes it five league wins in a row, something Atleti last managed between October and November 2025.
Let’s dig into some takeaways.
Same script, different ending
Atleti have been in this spot before: an early Saturday kickoff after a Champions League night, away from home against a resolute Espanyol side sitting a point off the relegation zone. Even with changes to the lineup, this was a side that should have dominated the game and been favorites to win it, the way Atleti have always been in games like these.
And for the most part, they did dominate. But for almost 90 minutes, nobody could find the defining moment.
Jonathan David dragged an early effort just over the bar and had a later effort saved. Marcos Llorente drove one at the top of the crossbar after the hour, only for Ángel Fortuño to tip it away. Julián Alvarez was denied by the same goalkeeper just before he set up the winner. Fortuño finished with five saves and even ended up as La Liga’s MVP of the game. For the most part, this felt eerily similar to last week.
These are two away games in a row where Atleti would historically have dropped points, and instead they have come out as winners. So, what is actually different about this team? Luck? A hot streak?
Not exactly.
Look at the type of players Atleti have in attack. With David, Giuliano, Baena and Lee Kang-in, there is an intensity to this group that pulls the whole attack into life. Nothing against the Atleti sides of recent seasons, but players who could spark something on their own did not have enough around them to turn that spark into anything sustained. It often looked like one or two players trying to force something to happen. This group gets on the same page far quicker.
Notice that Kang-in and Baena were not even on the pitch together today, and those two are the first names on most team sheets. Baena replaced Kang-in in the 62nd minute, and the tempo changed almost immediately. Every time Atleti won the ball, he was taking players on, driving into the final third and forcing Espanyol backward. Simeone spoke afterward about Baena being “more decisive, stronger and more confident” now, how injuries kept him from his best last season. This is exactly the profile Atleti signed, the kind of player who made Villarreal’s attack roar to life. He now has seven league goal contributions, five goals and two assists, which is two more than he managed across the whole of last season.
The contrast once David, Alvarez, Baena and Giuliano were all on the pitch was stark. In years past, this is where Atleti would start pumping in crosses, feeding cutbacks and trying their luck from range or out wide. This felt different. Even with Alvarez not at his usual level, his raw ability is enough to be a supporting piece for someone like Baena to take control of a game. He carried the ball forward with real purpose across his 45 minutes, finished with three shots, and picked up the assist on the winner, his first in the league this season. Giuliano’s contribution is elevated in the same way. He has always brought effort and intensity for the full 90, but lacked that final quality, and with Kang-in and Baena around him to provide it, he looks a far better player for it.
And then there is David. Personally, I was skeptical when he first joined, but he has given this attack a different sense of promise in front of goal. For most of the afternoon it felt like the goal would come through him, with his movement and his runs in the box. With Alvarez searching for his best form and Alexander Sørloth just back from injury, David has stepped up to be the box presence Atleti have needed, and that allows every high-intensity player around him to feed into him and off him.
It is not a coincidence that Atleti are suddenly pulling these results out of the bag. How sustainable it is remains to be seen. But for the first time in a while, you feel reasonably convinced that this team can find a spark in attack when a game gets stuck.
Look, man, it’s time to have a conversation
Ademola Lookman has been a topic of conversation for a few weeks now, and rightfully so. Even with his goal against Manchester United in midweek, he has not looked like the player who got off to such a hot start after joining from Atalanta in January. Right now, he looks almost like a passenger.
The one-on-one ability that made him so dangerous has gone quiet. He completed neither of his two attempted dribbles Saturday and managed just 20 touches in the first half before Alvarez replaced him at the break. Set aside Espanyol’s five substitutes, none of whom played more than about half an hour, and nobody on the pitch touched the ball fewer times.
There has been a deliberate effort to get him into the areas where he works best out wide. There was even a clip earlier in the season of Simeone appearing to mouth that playing Lookman as a forward was not the best use of him. But the sharpness he showed when he first arrived has dipped, and it hampers creativity down the left.
That puts the onus on the left-back, usually Grimaldo but Dani Martínez today, to create and sustain attacks on that side. It is not something you can fairly ask of Martínez just yet, and it is something Grimaldo himself has had to grow into over the last few games. It also makes Atleti predictable, funneling the play down the right, where the personnel is stronger but the attacks are easier to read, and that does not bode well over a full season. The contrast when Baena comes on and plays that side is obvious. All of a sudden attacks can be sustained down the left, and Atleti look like a threat off either flank and can open up lanes through the middle.
So, what is Lookman’s role right now? For the moment, it looks like impact off the bench: bring him on against tired legs, ideally in positive game states where Atleti can sit off, look to counter and give him room to attack space, to let that freshness and pace help rebuild his confidence.
David has become the default first-choice striker because Sørloth hasn’t been fit and has slipped down the pecking order. Alvarez, credit where it is due, keeps showing up to work and picked up the assist Saturday, but he has not looked like the player of past seasons, and it is fair to wonder whether he will while the noise around him lingers.
That effectively makes Lookman one of the key attackers in this squad, and it is in the best interest of Atleti and Simeone to get him back to form. You better believe there will be moments this season when Atleti need to count on him, especially with several competitions to chase. There will be games where his threat is necessary rather than merely nice to have. When those come, Atleti will need him ready.
All quiet on the defensive front
How refreshing has it been to watch Cristian Romero and Dávid Hancko at the back?
At the start of the season, I wrote about how crucial clean sheets would be for Atleti after how often it cost the team in big moments last year. There were stretches Saturday that, in seasons past, would have had me nervous. The home crowd roaring Espanyol on, Atleti pushing for a goal and exposed on the break, points threatening to slip away. Not this time, and not for a while since Romero arrived. Espanyol did get close, with Leandro Cabrera clipping the crossbar late in the first half, but that was an exception in a game Atleti never really lost control over.
It is easy to understate how much of the freedom Atleti’s attackers now have comes from the calm behind them. Romero, Hancko and Marc Pubill give the front players the license to play with the intensity they want and to hunt for those defining moments. Simeone’s teams have always been built on defensive solidity, and even if this side concedes against the bigger opponents, it does not look like the leaky unit of recent seasons.
That confidence also feeds into the midfield. Morten Hjulmand was excellent again, sitting in front of the defense, collecting the ball and keeping everything moving. He had a few moments early in the season, silly fouls and penalties conceded, but in games where Atleti want to shore things up, letting him anchor in front of the back line has brought real calm. That calm is what lets Pablo Barrios play the way he did midweek and again at Cornellà. Just as importantly, it is what lets Simeone rotate Barrios, Kang-in and Baena with confidence, rather than keeping players on for fear of conceding and being unable to find a goal. You can tell he trusts this back line, and that trust runs through the entire team.
There will be tests. Barcelona’s firepower will threaten, and Real Madrid did manage a goal at the Metropolitano in September. But as long as the defense stays this solid and frustrates opponents for long enough, it keeps Atleti in games and gives every other player on the pitch a platform to show their strengths.
(Note: Romero went off in the 67th minute as a precaution, with Simeone saying he had asked to come off. Hopefully it is nothing serious, because the gap between Romero and the alternatives, Robin Le Normand included, is hard to miss. Might be time to form prayer circles around Romero after every single game.)
