Simeone calls on 'evolving' Atletico Madrid squad to maintain upward trajectory

Diego Simeone has called upon his whole Atletico Madrid squad to find their form as they continue “evolving and improving”.

After a stuttering start to the 2025-26 season, Atleti have kicked into gear, recording wins against Rayo Vallecano, Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt.

They scored five goals in both of their home wins against Madrid and Eintracht, in LaLiga and the Champions League, respectively.

Julian Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann have starred in Atleti's recent winning run, but Simeone wants all of his players to contribute at both ends of the pitch.

“Since the match against Villarreal, the team has been evolving and improving relative to the matches against Alaves and Elche,” said Simeone, with Atleti taking on Celta Vigo on Sunday.

“We have to continue with the same humility and, above all, gradually involve those who we still need and who are returning.

“In the case of Alex [Baena], it took a while to bring him on, and the ball didn’t come out as we expected as soon as he came on.

“We need things from Alex and also from [Thiago] Almada, [Johnny] Cardoso, [Alexander] Sorloth. To be able to compete, we all need to be at our best.”

While Atleti are targeting a victory that would take them into the top four in LaLiga, Celta are yet to win in the league this season, drawing five of their seven games so far.

They did, however, beat Greek side PAOK in the Europa League on Thursday.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Celta Vigo – Borja Iglesias

Borja Iglesias has scored in each of his last four LaLiga matches (four goals) and could become the first Celta player to score in five consecutive LaLiga matches in the 21st century.

Only Kylian Mbappe (eight) and Alvarez (six) have scored more goals in the Spanish top flight this season than Iglesias.

Atletico Madrid – Julian Alvarez

Alvarez has registered six goals in his first seven LaLiga games this season, the first player to do so for Atleti since Griezmann in 2016/17 (six goals).

The last player to score more across his opening eight LaLiga appearances of a single campaign for the club was Diego Costa in 2013/14 (ten goals).

MATCH PREDICTION: ATLETICO MADRID WIN

Atleti have won their last five away LaLiga matches against Celta, their longest winning run against them in the competition.

They are now unbeaten in their last six LaLiga matches (W3 D3), winning the last two. Atleti have not won three consecutive matches in the competition since November 2024 to January 2025 (eight wins in a row).

Only Barcelona (five) and Sevilla (four) have scored more goals from outside the box than Atleti in LaLiga this season (three, the same as Real Madrid).

However, along with Real Betis and Villarreal, Celta are one of only three teams not to have conceded a single goal from range in the competition this season.

Celta have failed to win any of their last 13 LaLiga matches against Atleti (D4 L9), their longest winless run against the Rojiblancos in the top-flight.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Celta Vigo – 23.9%

Draw – 24.2%

Atletico Madrid – 51.9%