After crashing out, Atleti lose to Celta, chasing the Champions League | OneFootball

After the painful elimination in the Champions League semifinals, Atlético de Madrid failed to get back to winning ways and fell 1-0 to Celta de Vigo at the Metropolitano on Matchday 35 of LaLiga 2025/26.

Cholo Simeone’s team, with no major goals left for the rest of the season after cup setbacks — first in the Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad and then in the Champions League semis against Arsenal — came into the home match looking to end an up-and-down campaign in the best possible way.

Without some key players, such as the injured Julián Álvarez and Giuliano Simeone, Atleti went out in search of a home win. But they ran into their own lack of efficiency.

With Álex Baena pulling the strings, it was Antoine Griezmann, Ademola Lookman, Marcos Llorente and, to a lesser extent, Alexander Sorloth who got into scoring positions.

Ionut Radu, the Romanian goalkeeper for the Galician side, hardly even had to intervene, because the hosts failed to create any real danger, aside from a shot off the post by Lookman and a rebound that fell to Griezmann, who is beginning to say goodbye to the club of his life (he has one match left at the Metropolitano).

And to make matters worse, after 20 minutes, Cholo lost Josema Giménez, who was playing again after more than a month out injured and is starting to cause concern in Uruguay ahead of the World Cup.

In the second half, Atlético kept pushing, clearly determined to find the win, but not only did their lack of cutting edge in front of goal remain, they also lost the sharpness they had shown in creating play.

Sorloth, an aerial threat, and Lookman troubled Celta, and youngster Cubo also tried, but not even the substitutions (with Argentinians Almada and Molina coming on) changed the flow of the match.

And, to top it all off, at the other end, a moment of brilliance from Borja Iglesias decided the game. Ilaix Moriba capitalized on a mistake by Koke while playing out from the back, Pablo Durán beat a couple of defenders, Williot Swedberg provided the assist, with a deflection off Pubill along the way, and the Panda finished with superb delicacy, lifting it over Oblak to make it 1-0 in the 62nd minute.

Claudio Giráldez’s side, which got forward only once all afternoon, did not trouble the Slovenian goalkeeper again, but with the lead on the scoreboard they suffered even less in their own box and ended up winning at the Metropolitano for the first time.

With this defeat, Atlético now have 3 wins, 1 draw and 9 losses in their last 13 matches. In LaLiga they are fourth with 63 points, and are very unlikely to take third place away from Villarreal (68 with a game in hand).

On the other side, the win is crucial for Celta, because they reached 50 points and, with three rounds left in the league season, can dream of the Champions League: they are now three points behind Betis, who have a game in hand and sit in fifth place, the last spot for Europe’s top club competition.

But if they fall short, they at least have some breathing room to qualify for the next UEFA Europa League, defending their position against Getafe and Athletic Bilbao.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.