Coming off a sluggish midweek Copa del Rey performance, one wasn’t really sure what to expect when Atlético traveled to relegation-threatened Girona: away from home, in the final match of the year before
Christmas, with an early-afternoon kickoff.
That was not the case. The red-and-whites came out playing as if their hair was on fire, and they were duly rewarded with two goals from Koke and Conor Gallagher. The second half brought a similar level of intensity from the visitors, and Atlético ultimately sealed the result with a fine finish from Antoine Griezmann.
While the defending looked shaky at times and the attack still needs some fine-tuning, this is exactly the kind of away performance you want to see from Atlético. As Los Colchoneros close out the first half of this LaLiga season, perhaps this display is a sign of things to come.
Familiar faces
Atlético leaned on three club legends to guide them to victory. Koke turned back the clock with a magnificent strike to open the scoring. Jan Oblak followed with arguably the save of the year, denying Axel Witsel with a stunning left-handed stop midway through the first half, before he produced another excellent save on Àlex Moreno midway through the second. Griezmann then provided the exclamation point, sealing the win with a superb finish in the 92nd minute.
Performances like these from Koke and Griezmann are exactly what the club has been craving. Koke’s experience brings invaluable solidity to the midfield, while having an in-form Griezmann coming off the bench feels like an absolute cheat code. Griezmann has four goals in three games since he buzzed his hair. That’s analytics for you.
The biggest beneficiary of Koke’s performance, however, is Pablo Barrios. Pablito delivered arguably his best match of the season and was able to play his most natural role, confident in the knowledge that Koke was anchoring the midfield behind him.
Llorente’s return
Prior to suffering an injury in November against Getafe, Llorente was Diego Simeone’s most-used outfield player. Today, he showed exactly why.
I argue that Llorente is Atlético de Madrid’s most important player. The partnership of Llorente and Marc Pubill on the right provides Atleti with a level of security and structure that is difficult to replicate. Defensively, Llorente consistently relieves pressure on both Pubill and Dávid Hancko. Girona, notably, did not dribble past the Spaniard a single time throughout the match.
Atleti simply are not the same side when Molina is on the pitch in Llorente’s absence. In Molina’s seven appearances replacing Llorente as he recovered from injury, Los Colchoneros conceded 10 goals — as opposed to just six in Llorente’s past seven appearances. Four of those came in a single match against Arsenal.
Given Robin Le Normand’s recent dip in form amid Pubill’s rise to prominence, expect Los Colchoneros to lean on a right-sided defensive partnership of Llorente and Pubill in the high-stakes matches that remain this season. If Atleti are true to the rumors that they are looking to strengthen the left back position, Simeone may be one signing away from rolling out his best back line in years.
Saying goodbye to 2025 by bucking the trend
As Atléti flip the page from 2025 to 2026, Simeone seems to be very aware of where his team stands and that they will need to push extremely hard to compete with Barcelona and Real Madrid.
It’s no secret that Atleti are simply not the same team away from the Metropolitano. This calendar year in particular was dreadful in that sense for Simeone’s men, who recorded only 24 points in LaLiga away from home, the lowest total of the Simeone era.
That being said, Los Colchoneros can enter 2026 on a positive note after delivering a strong performance against Girona today and winning their past three matches away from home. The red-and-whites now face a challenging stretch on the road, traveling to San Sebastián to take on Real Sociedad in LaLiga before heading to Turkey to battle Galatasaray. While not a true away match, Atleti also will face cross-town rivals Real Madrid in the Supercopa de España semifinals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
It was an up-and-down 2025 for Los Colchoneros. The calendar year started so well, with entertaining Champions League results against Leverkusen and Salzburg. Atleti even qualified for the top eight under the new Champions League format. March, unfortunately, brought disaster, as Atleti were knocked out of the Champions League in controversial fashion (it was not a double touch), lost a Copa del Rey semifinal to Barcelona, and fell out of contention for LaLiga. The club suffered another setback with an underwhelming group stage exit from the FIFA Club World Cup in the summer.
Still, Atleti were able to reinforce their ranks with excellent signings such as Pubill, Álex Baena and Johnny Cardoso; the latter two have shown their quality when fitness issues haven’t interrupted them. One of this year’s obvious highlights was the extremely satisfying 5–2 win over Real Madrid, and Simeone’s side is in good position once again to finish in the top eight of the Champions League league-phase standings.
Newly-hired Mateu Alemany is set for a busier winter transfer window than originally expected, but this is exactly what he was brought in to do: find diamonds in the rough and secure top-tier talent. Will Los Rojiblancos reinforce their defense? Will Alexander Sørloth be sold to bring in a new strike partner for Julián Alvarez?
My personal belief is that Atleti are very close. A significant signing of a top-tier striker or a left-back could see Los Colchoneros make a deep run in at least one of the three cup competitions. Pair that with the returns of Baena and Joséma Giménez, and the squad suddenly looks deep and well-balanced.
What will 2026 bring for Atlético de Madrid? No one truly knows, and that’s what’s going to make it fun.
