Atletico Madrid 1-0 Alaves
Between them, Atletico Madrid and Alaves have won just three of their last 10 La Liga outings, somewhat ending their good run before December. The truth is, both teams look like the most distant sides.
Starting at a comfortable tempo, Atletico spent the first 15 minutes in Alaves’ half, with Thiago Almada and Pablo Barrios finding pockets of space in midfield – Giuliano Simeone’s early stinger put Antonio Sivera to the test. Perhaps the game was more important to Almada than anyone else in the Atletico side, who spent the week linked with relegation. If that bothered him, it would be hidden from the press.
🚨 TODAY’S XI – ALMADA STARTS! pic.twitter.com/xOW2Let60o
– Atlético Universe (@atletiuniverse) January 18, 2026
Complaints began to spread around the half-hour mark, as Alaves deftly took out the Metropolitano, disrupting Atletico’s move just before the final ball. Even if their sequences of play were tentative and often gave them little space, Atletico often had to start over when they got the ball back.
With the Metropolitano becoming increasingly tetchy, Carlos Vicente picked out Jon Guridi at the far post for Alaves to take the lead in stoppage time, but the Basque midfielder was inches short of the proper connection. Almost paying for the chance, Los Babazorros allowed Atletico one last counter-attack before the break, with Almada denying twice, and Giuliano Simeone a third with heroic blocks in the six-yard box. Simeone junior, who played very well in the first half for Atletico, did everything possible to drag Atletico forward.
A risk-averse Atletico are on the mend
That’s why it was a big relief for Diego Simeone that Atletico started to find holes that were very difficult to find in the first five minutes of the second half. Giuliano fired the ball into the six-yard box that Alexander Sorloth split for the second time. More to his taste, a minute later, Barrios lifted the ball from the right into the penalty area, where Sorloth jumped high, and put all the power into an accurate header that kissed the inside of the post to give Atletico the lead.
With Atletico no longer needing to pursue the opening game, winning the ball up suddenly meant a fair fight, as Chacho Coudet left many players on the pitch. It was just before the hour, when Barrios hit the ball back, drove towards the D of the box past two players, and slipped to the left to Almada. On his weak left foot, he couldn’t get a good connection with the ball, Sivera was strong behind his shot. That was his last kick of the game, as Simeone replaced him in favor of Alex Baena. Julian Alvarez also, who was sloppy on the ball, also came out on the hour mark for Antoine Griezmann. His wait for a Liga goal, stretching back nine games to the first day of November, is dragging on.
Coudet made four changes of his own before 70 minutes, doing his best to change the pattern of the game, but Baena drove inside and cracked the post with a curling, postcard effort instead. To Coudet’s credit, those changes worked briefly, with him playing a role in Atletico’s half, without going in, in a first-half role.
😮💨#LaLigaHighlights pic.twitter.com/DTBaGKtVGa
– Atlético de Madrid (@Atleti) January 18, 2026
At the opening of the match, Atlético closed themselves off. Time and time again Los Colchoneros passed up chances to play the ball. The message from Simeone was clear, with Robin Le Normand and Nahuel Molina to Johnny Cardoso and Sorloth – we hold on to what we have.
The Metropolitano weren’t that keen, and if Lucas Boye had connected cleanly with a header from five yards out, with the goal gaping, the odd angry whistle would have been a waterfall.
Simeone will dispute his approach to getting the result he wanted, but the performance did little to dispel the notion that Atletico will struggle to fight for more than third place this season. In his 700th game in charge, it was a victory for everyone. That will be little consolation for Alaves, who have entered the relegation zone for the first time this season. Coudet’s did well until the goal was scored, and that’s when they were punished for not coming forward well.
