Atletico Madrid Overcomes Slow Start with Impressive Second Half
Atletico needed a jolt. Malaga gave them nothing.
Diego Simeone’s side trudged through a flat, lifeless first half, barely laying a glove on their visitors. Without Julian Alvarez, they managed just four attempts and scraped together an expected goals tally of 0.10. The Metropolitano grew restless. Atletico looked like a team stuck in pre-season mode.
Simeone saw it too. On 57 minutes, he ripped up the script.
Lee, Baena and Giuliano Simeone all came off the bench in a triple change that instantly rewired the game. Energy, aggression, angles between the lines – Atletico suddenly played with purpose.
The breakthrough arrived through the new face.
Lee, on his competitive debut, stepped in from his zone and bent a superb curling effort beyond the keeper to finally crack Malaga’s resistance. One touch to set himself, another to guide the ball into the far corner. From a stale contest to a stadium on its feet in a heartbeat.
The goal did more than settle nerves. It opened the door.
With Malaga now stretched and chasing, Baena stepped up to apply the flourish. Awarded a free-kick in prime territory, the midfielder whipped a spectacular strike over the wall and into the net, sealing a 2-0 victory that had looked anything but routine an hour earlier.
Simeone did not hide his irritation with the opening 45 minutes, describing a first half in which his side “didn’t have scoring chances” and were simply “running”. Yet he reserved his strongest words for the players who changed the game, stressing that the second-half substitutes “took a leap in quality” and that “all the boys gave us the leap we needed” to win a match “that was not easy.”
Lee’s night carried extra weight. At 25 years and 181 days, he became Atletico’s third-youngest debut scorer in La Liga in the 21st century, a milestone that underlined the impact of his first outing. The former Valencia, Mallorca and PSG midfielder did more than score; he finished with joint-team-high numbers for chances created and tackles won, showing both craft and graft in Simeone’s demanding system.
He admitted the early-season grind is still there. The rhythm is not yet right. But the importance of this step was clear.
“The first games were very important. We lacked training. It was very important to get the win,” Lee said, quick to credit the collective. “The whole team has done a great job. Thanks to the work of the first half we were able to get the victory. We continue to work hard. The rhythm is missing, but with work we will improve individually and collectively.”
A stodgy start, a ruthless bench, a debut goal and a statement free-kick. If this is what Atletico look like before the rhythm arrives, what happens when it finally clicks?
