Espanyol overwhelmed by bafflingly brilliant Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid 4-2 Espanyol

Simply two locations separated Atletico Madrid (4th) and Espanyol (sixth) at kick-off, however neither has been significantly having fun with 2026. Excepting two good performances towards Actual Betis and Barcelona, general a disappointing Atletico had received simply three of their 10 video games after the winter break. Espanyol, the revelation of the primary half of the season, have been but to win in 2026 in any respect.

Bearing in mind that Espanyol had misplaced their miserly defence, Manolo Gonzalez switched to a few on the again, hoping to interrupt on an Atletico Madrid facet that had made three modifications from their 3-3 draw with Membership Brugge. Gonzalez couldn’t have dreamed a greater begin, with Tyrhys Dolan despatched racing down the appropriate after simply 5 minutes. Jofre Carreras beat David Hancko to the low cross in, and whereas he was lucky with the double deflection, it took not one of the shine off an early lead for Espanyol.

We proceed.#LaLigaHighlights pic.twitter.com/Ac0jJbwdyQ

— Atlético de Madrid (@Atleti) February 21, 2026

Diego Simeone had mirrored Gonzalez with a 3 defenders of his personal sitting, however it was the primary time the Marcos Llorente pushed down the flank that introduced the equaliser after 20 minutes. The preliminary transfer broke down, however Espanyol’s try to play out ended up at Llorente’s toes. He in flip flighted a cross to the again submit onto the toe of Alexander Sorloth, who adjusted nicely to knock it again throughout Marko Dmitrovic into the online.

After the purpose, Antoine Griezmann started to grab the sport, discovering holes within the Espanyol construction to play neat passes and open issues up. Ademola Lookman fired a second shot vast, earlier than Griezmann himself curved a run in behind the defence. He collected the ball completely on the transfer, however sliced his shot simply vast. Simeone’s frustration was that the urgency drifted out of Atletico’s recreation after a ten-minute flurry, Los Pericos stabilising themselves, even when they carried little menace on the break.

A towering efficiency from Alexander Sorloth

After the break, it was Atletico who made the proper begin although. Griezmann performed it into the toes of Alex Baena, who on the half-turn had an ideal reverse move for Giuliano Simeone on the appropriate facet of the field. Giuliano slotted the ball by Dmitrovic’s legs for the lead simply 5 minutes into the second interval. On the hour-mark, it was a Baena nook that Matteo Ruggeri flicked on on the near-post, discovering former Atalanta teammate Lookman on the again submit with a diving header.

At this level, Atletico relaxed into the backward and forward of a recreation that offered loads of area to assault in the event that they have been keen to roll with the punches Espanyol might throw. Sorloth continued his high-quality recreation by shrugging off two defenders and placing the within of the submit after getting in behind. Minutes later, Ruggeri acquired down the left facet and Sorloth towered above his defender to knock his header again throughout purpose – this time in off the submit.

🇪🇸✨Marcos Llorente’s first half:

– 1 help– 90% move accuracy– 2 possibilities created– 43/48 passes– 1 clearance– 1 shot blocked– 4 recoveries pic.twitter.com/V4S14yibQG

— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) February 21, 2026

Between these two appearances of the woodwork, Cyril Ngonge had looped a ball over Jan Oblak and onto the bar for Espanyol too. Gonzalez had twisted with a triple change, however their makes an attempt to stretch the sport left them extra strung out. Sorloth escaped in behind once more, and left Thiago Almada with solely two defenders on the road to beat, however the mixture of Fernando Calero and Leandro Cabrera stored it out.

Espanyol did proceed to battle although, and with 10 minutes remaining, Edu Exposito noticed a niche at Jan Oblak’s close to submit from the left facet of the field. He rifled a defiant shot into the online, scary the introduction of centre-back Robin Le Normand for winger Giuliano.

💙🐦 @RCDEspanyol closes the hole with Edu Expósito’s purpose! #AtletiEspanyol | #LALIGAEASPORTS pic.twitter.com/Q8rK8yMUzY

— LALIGA (@LaLiga) February 21, 2026

Though this time Atletico conceded twice, it was a match that sits firmly of their assortment of encouraging performances behind however in the identical class as Betis and Barcelona, relatively than the stodgy victories over RCD Mallorca and Alaves. Led by an untameable Sorloth, maybe essentially the most promising elements of the match for Simeone have been the inexperienced shoots from Cardoso, and a luxurious help from Baena. Ought to this Atletico dare to seem persistently, then complaints on the Metropolitano would fade into the previous, however given their 2026 type, no season-ticket holder will arrive with confidence for his or her conflict with Membership Brugge on Tuesday.

Espanyol lengthen their winless run to eight video games, with Celta Vigo, Athletic Membership and Osasuna now respiration down their neck in sixth spot. The loss was an extension of Gonzalez’s frustration too, witness to a facet that fights, competes and finds methods to attain targets, however appears to be all too straightforward to play towards for the opposition in 2026.