Atletico Madrid vs Villarreal – Predicted lineup and team news

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·23 August 2026

Atletico Madrid vs Villarreal – Predicted lineup and team news

Atlético Madrid host Villarreal on Sunday for their second La Liga meeting at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Diego Simeone’s team arrives in excellent form after a perfect start to the domestic season. Atlético opened with a comfortable 2-0 home win over Málaga CF, showing squad strength as substitutes Lee Kang-in and Álex Baena supplied the goals. Riding strong home momentum carried over from last season’s finish, Los Colchoneros look organised and determined to keep another clean sheet in Madrid.

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Atletico Madrid team news

Simeone has a mix of injury problems and welcome returns to manage before today’s game.

The big news is that star forward Julián Álvarez has returned to training after an extended post-tournament break and is fully fit to lead the attack.

However, Atlético will definitely be without main striker Alexander Sørloth, who is out with an ongoing muscle problem. Long-term absentees Thomas Lemar and new defensive signing Cristian Romero are also unavailable due to physical issues.

Simeone is favouring a flexible 1-4-1-4-1 shape, with Koke sitting deep in midfield. He must make difficult selections on the flanks after eye-catching displays from Lee Kang-in and Álex Baena—both of whom came off the bench to score against Málaga CF and are pushing hard to displace Carlos Martín and Arnau Ortiz in the starting lineup.