After their exit, Atlético lost to a Celta dreaming of the Champions | OneFootball

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

Cholo Simeone’s side, 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 wrap up 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 it ran into its own inefficiency.

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

Ionut Radu, the Romanian goalkeeper for the Galician side, hardly even had to intervene because the hosts never created real danger, beyond a shot off the post by Lookman and a rebound chance for 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 returning after more than a month out injured and is beginning 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 it remain blunt in front of goal, it also lost the sharpness it had shown in building play.

Sorloth, an aerial threat, and Lookman troubled Celta, and the youngster Cubo also tried, but not even the substitutions (the Argentine duo Almada and Molina came on) changed the course of the match.

And, on top of that, 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 got past a couple of opponents, Williot Swedberg provided the assist, with a deflection off Pubill along the way, and the Panda finished with a classy first-time chip over Oblak to make it 1-0 in the 62nd minute.

Claudio Giráldez’s team, which only got one chance all afternoon, did not trouble the Slovenian goalkeeper again, but with the lead on the scoreboard it suffered even less in its own box and ended up winning at the Metropolitano for the first time.

With this defeat, Atlético now has 3 wins, 1 draw and 9 losses in its last 13 matches. In LaLiga it is fourth with 63 points, and it is highly unlikely to take third place from Villarreal (68 with one game in hand).

On the other side, the win is crucial for Celta, because it moved onto 50 points and, with three rounds left in the championship, can dream of the Champions League: it is now three points behind Betis, which has a game in hand and sits fifth, the last qualifying spot for Europe’s top club competition.

But if that proves out of reach, it at least has some breathing room in the race to play in the next UEFA Europa League, holding off Getafe and Athletic Bilbao.

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