Atletico Madrid 2-0 Villarreal: Barrios and Gonzalez strikes ease pressure on Simeone

Atletico Madrid picked up their first victory of the 2025-26 LaLiga season as they downed Villarreal 2-0 to ease the pressure on Diego Simeone. 

Having recorded their worst start to a top-flight campaign, Atleti delivered a much-needed performance and victory to move up to eighth in the early-season standings. 

They made a lightning start when Pablo Barrios collected Julian Alvarez's clever reverse pass inside the box before picking out the bottom-right corner with just nine minutes gone. 

But Villarreal responded well to going behind, with Alberto Moleiro striking twice in quick succession at Jan Oblak's goal, but he was unable to test the Atleti goalkeeper. 

Oblak was, however, beaten in the first-half stoppage time, but he was left relieved to see Nicolas Pepe's stunning free-kick from distance rattle against his crossbar. 

And Simeone's men doubled their advantage seven minutes after the restart when Marcos Llorente's cross to the back post was met by Nico Gonzalez's towering header, as the Juventus loanee marked his debut in style.

Marc Pubill forced a stop from visiting goalkeeper Luiz Junior late on, with Atleti able to hold on comfortably enough.

Data Debrief: Alvarez delivers on home soil again

Ahead of kick-off, Simeone expressed his desire to find relief against Villarreal after Atletico's worst start to a season during his tenure, and his new-look side certainly delivered here to get their first win on the board. 

Though not at their brilliant best, which was evident in the 1.17 expected goals (xG) they generated from their eight shots on goal, Atletico ensured they extended their unbeaten run to six matches in LaLiga (W3 D3). 

And, like he almost always does, Alvarez had to have his say with an assist for Barrios' opener. Indeed, only Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe (13) and Osasuna's Ante Budimir (11) have been involved in more goals at home in LaLiga in 2025 than the Argentine (10, eight goals and two assists).