Atlético de Madrid's Challenge: Points and Pride Against Levante
Atlético de Madrid head to the Ciutat de València on Saturday with the table smiling at them and the calendar threatening them.
Diego Simeone’s side arrive second in LaLiga on 25 points (8-1-1), two behind Barcelona, riding a run of six straight league wins and eight games unbeaten in all competitions. The numbers are those of a title contender. The sensations are a little more complex.
Their last outing summed it up. A tight, nervy 1-0 over Deportivo A Coruña at the Metropolitano, decided by a Julián Alvarez strike just after the interval and protected, once again, by Jan Oblak’s late interventions. Atlético are winning. They are also living on the edge.
Four of their last six league victories have come by a single goal. Chances are being created, games are being controlled for long stretches, but opponents are not always being put away. The margin for error has been slim, the tension constant.
What has changed, and changed sharply, is the defensive structure. Eight goals conceded in 10 league matches, back-to-back clean sheets against Espanyol and Deportivo, and a familiar feeling that once Atlético get in front, they rarely give it back. For Simeone, that is the foundation for everything that follows.
Now comes the awkward part of the schedule. Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday, Barcelona in LaLiga after that. In between, a trip to a Levante side that looks mid-table on paper but plays with anything but mid-table caution at home.
Levante’s wild home edge
Levante sit 14th on 10 points (2-4-4), a team that has lurched from impressive to fragile in the space of a few days. Luís Castro watched his side beat Athletic Club 3-1 at the Ciutat de València, then lose 2-1 to Real Sociedad four days later.
At home, though, Levante have turned matches into shootouts. Thirteen goals scored in their four league games at the Ciutat: five past Real Betis, three against Sevilla, three more against Athletic. They attack with numbers, they run at you, they take risks.
Those risks cut both ways. Levante have conceded 19 goals in 10 league matches, 10 of them in front of their own fans. Their back line opens up, their full-backs push high, and spaces appear that a side with Atlético’s weapons can exploit.
That is where Alvarez and Álex Baena come in. Both have been central to Atlético’s recent unbeaten run, Alvarez with his penalty-box edge and Baena with his creativity between the lines. Against a Levante defense that leaks chances, those two in particular will expect to find gaps.
Levante’s threat is far from one-dimensional. Captain Roger Brugué, the winger who struck twice in that win over Athletic, has been one of Castro’s most dangerous pieces, constantly attacking the far post and drifting into central areas. Iván Romero and Petar Ratkov offer different profiles up front, while on the left of defense Manu Sánchez – once of Atlético – is likely to face his former club with a point to prove.
Simeone’s selection puzzle
All of this comes at a time when Simeone is juggling absences and rotation.
Koke and Johnny Cardoso remain out with muscular problems, both still working away from the main group and both ruled out again after missing the win over Deportivo. The midfield, already a zone of constant tweaking this season, will be patched together once more.
There is a boost at the back. Cristian Romero has returned to full training after missing the last two matches against Stuttgart and Deportivo. He has been involved in the tactical work for this game and could walk straight back into the starting XI, restoring a more familiar look to the defensive line.
Simeone has also tested something different in the middle of the pitch. In training this week, Marcos Llorente lined up alongside Pablo Barrios, with Morten Hjulmand dropping out. On paper, resting Hjulmand before Bayern would make little sense: he is suspended for the Champions League clash after his red card against Stuttgart, so logic suggests he should play in Valencia to keep rhythm and manage others’ minutes.
Logic, though, does not always dictate Simeone’s choices. He knows he must arrive fresh against Bayern and Barcelona, but he also knows that underestimating Levante in their own stadium can be fatal.
Up front, the options are plentiful and the decisions delicate. Giuliano Simeone is pushing to start again, while Jonathan David, Ademola Lookman, Kang-in Lee and Alexander Sørloth all offer different profiles for rotation. Power, pace, link play, creativity between the lines – Simeone can mix and match, but every tweak has a cost in cohesion.
History and a hostile ground
On the record books, Atlético dominate this fixture: 21 wins, eight draws and nine defeats against Levante in LaLiga. That statistic, though, hides a recurring problem. The Ciutat de València has not been kind to Simeone.
Atlético have not won a league game there since June 2020, when an own goal from Bruno González scraped a 1-0 victory. Since then, too many frustrating afternoons, too many points dropped in a stadium that seems to strip away some of Atlético’s usual control.
The last visit, in January, ended goalless and flat, a 0-0 that felt like a missed opportunity. Earlier in that same season, Atlético had brushed Levante aside 3-1 at the Metropolitano, with Antoine Griezmann scoring twice and an Adrián de la Fuente own goal completing the job. Home comfort; away irritation.
This time, the likely XI has a different feel: Oblak; Grimaldo, Hancko, Romero, Pubill; Baena, Barrios, Llorente, Giuliano; David, Alvarez. A side built to carry the ball, to press high, to turn Levante’s openness into punishment.
Prediction and the stakes
The sense is of goals. Levante’s attacking abandon, Atlético’s efficiency, the weaknesses in the home defense and the rotation in the away midfield all point in the same direction: a game that could swing, then swing again.
The call: 3-2 to Atlético. Alvarez, David and Baena on the scoresheet, enough to extend the LaLiga winning run to seven and the unbeaten streak in all competitions to eight.
For Manu Sánchez, it is a chance to remind his old club what they let go. For names like José Molina, Txomin Nagore and Marc Pubill, it is another chapter in a fixture that has long linked the two institutions.
For Atlético, though, it is something sharper. Win here, survive the chaos of the Ciutat de València, and they walk into Bayern and Barcelona with momentum, points in hand and the title race very much alive. Drop anything, and this stretch of the season starts to look less like an opportunity and more like a trap.
