Diego Simeone and Atlético de Madrid find themselves having some more work to do to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages.
Looking back, the club will — and should — have many regrets about the opportunity
they have let slip away and frankly, they have no one to blame but themselves.
The chances were there for the Rojiblancos against serial Norwegian champions Bodø/Glimt. Álex Baena scored a goal that was a hair offside. Pablo Barrios hit the bar. Julián Alvarez missed a wide-open net and scored an Olímpico that also was ruled offside. (But it’s cool when Liverpool do it?)
On another day, maybe Atlético win this match. Today, they did not. The team’s dependence on an imperfect figure like Alexander Sørloth brought with it more disappointment: the former Bodø/Glimt striker opened the scoring with a header, and he never troubled the goalkeeper again as Atleti blew another one-goal lead.
All the credit needs to be given to Bodø/Glimt. To beat Manchester City and Atlético Madrid in the club’s first Champions League campaign is extremely impressive. The result was fair. Bodø pushed hard early and fought like their lives was on the line. They seemed to be in the way of every possible Atlético attempt and made things very difficult for Los Colchoneros.
Let’s jump into some takeaways.
Suspect substitutions (again)
It feels like Déjà vu from when I did the takeaways for the Galatasray match: another night, another round of questionable substitutions from Diego Simeone.
From the 78th minute on, Atleti had seven defensive players on the pitch when Le Normand replaced Pablo Barrios. As the home team was pushing for an equalizer. This followed the decision to bring off the flexible, versatile Nico Gonzalez for Nahuel Molina, who is out of form and low on confidence. You have to think Atlético would have been a better attacking threat with Nico continuing to be on the pitch.
But moreover, you don’t have to be an expert football tactician of any kind to understand that taking off Barrios for Le Normand when your team needs not one, but two goals is one of the worst substitutions Simeone has made all season. The substitution came mere seconds after Barrios made a great solo run to set up a chance for Thiago Almada.
Simeone should get a lot of the blame for his decision, but who else could he have turned to? Atlético currently have the smallest roster in LaLiga. Antoine Griezmann picked up an unfortunate injury, while Giuliano Simeone got sick. Jack Raspadori and Conor Gallagher were both shipped back to their respective home countries, and there have been no new signings. The big question at Atleti now seems to be, “who can we bring in?”
(I can tell you that the answer to that question is not Leon Goretzka).
There’s been back and forth between the media and Simeone about potential signings on the way. Hopefully, they’re on their way soon. Because the five subs Simeone made today were Almada, Molina, Le Normand, Johnny Cardoso and Matteo Ruggeri. That’s not good enough.
A pitiful performance
Since the start of 2026, Atlético are averaging one goal for every 18 shots they take. Offensively, they are not good enough.
Meanwhile, Atleti just completed an entire eight-game league phase slate without keeping a clean sheet. Bodø came out of the gate hot, and with tons of energy. They were unlucky to not get a goal from their opening two chances. Fast forward 34 minutes and they were promptly awarded for their efforts, after they efficiently and effectively broke down the red and white back line. Defensively, they are not good enough.
The most frustrating part of this match was Kasper Høgh’s goal, the eventual winner. How many Atleti players missed a chance to clear the ball? Bodø wanted this more. In terms of effort, in terms of intensity, Atleti are not good enough.
I don’t want to disparage Sørloth too much because he’s a good player, and he’s the only one scoring goals right now. But he’s not meant to be your main option, not if you want to compete for titles. With Alvarez’s goalless drought extending to eight games, all red and white supporters asking “where is Spiderman?” Will Sørloth continue to be their only hope?
Wrapping up and looking ahead
Los Colchoneros finish the Champions League group stage with 4-1-3 record, 13 points and a +2 goal differential. Following a wild day of Champions League action, Atleti’s next opponent will be Club Brugge or Galatasaray in the play-off round. The winner of this clash will get either Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur in the round of 16.
A top eight finish was right there for Atlético. They could have avoided this play-off round. They bottled it. Even with a short squad, It is inexcusable to draw in a very winnable game in Turkey against Galatasaray and lose an even more-winnable game at home against a team who isn’t even playing domestic competitions right now — having taken the lead in both games.
These last two results close out an uneven league phase for Atlético, who finished 14th out of 36 teams. There was the 5-1 thrashing of Eintracht Frankfurt, Josema Giménez’s winning header against Inter Milan and the thrilling comeback against PSV. However, the lowlight was definitely in London, and the 0-4 defeat against Arsenal. Even a few patchy performances were enough to see Atleti comfortably into the play-offs, but again, they had a chance to finish in the top-eight.
Hopefully this serves as a wake-up call for Simeone and his men. El Cholo is no stranger to criticism and typically, this is where he learns from his mistakes and turns a run of shaky form into a winning streak. He just got punked — what is he going to do about it?
