Alex Baena was the architect of Giuliano Simeone’s most complete performance of the young La Liga season, scoring twice inside 33 minutes as Atletico Madrid walked out of the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan with a 3-1 win. Atletico were three goals to the good by halftime, with Baena’s brace and a goal from Ademola Lookman making the contest all but over before the break. Miguel Sierra pulled one back on 66 minutes for Luis Garcia Plaza’s side, but it amounted to little more than a consolation against a visiting side that had controlled the match from the opening whistle.
Key Moments
- 4′, Baena opens the scoring in the fourth minute, converting from a pass by Kang-in Lee to put Atletico ahead almost immediately.
- 26′, Lookman doubles the lead, finishing off an assist from Pablo Barrios to make it 2-0 and take the game firmly away from Sevilla.
- 33′, Baena gets his second of the evening, set up this time by Marcos Llorente, to put Atletico 3-0 up before the half hour mark.
- 66′, Sierra grabs a consolation for Sevilla, tapping home from a Robbie Ure assist to make it 3-1, the same minute Atletico bring on substitutes to manage the game.
Tactical Breakdown
Atletico set up in a 4-4-2 and were relentless in transition during the opening 35 minutes, turning Sevilla’s defensive lapses into goals with clinical efficiency. They finished with 58% possession and completed 454 of 530 passes at 86%, controlling territory without overcommitting. Their xG of 0.93 is modest relative to their three-goal haul, which speaks to how well they converted their chances, all from inside the box.
Simeone’s decision to pair Baena and Lookman up front gave Sevilla’s backline a different set of problems to solve. The early goal in the fourth minute forced the hosts to chase the game from the opening stages, which opened space for Atletico on the break. When Lookman and Llorente were withdrawn together on 66 minutes, the match was already won, and the second half became a controlled exercise in game management.
Sevilla had 21 shots on the night but only five on target, and their xG of 0.96 barely reflected a genuine attacking threat. Luis Garcia Plaza’s 4-2-3-1 never found a way to press Atletico’s midfield build-up effectively, and the double substitution at 55 minutes, bringing on Chidera Ejuke and Giorgi Kochorashvili, came too late to change the shape of the match. Goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos was forced into only two saves, a figure that illustrates how rarely Sevilla’s attacking play troubled an organized visiting defense.
Player Ratings
Match Context
Standings
Head To Head
Verdict
Atletico Madrid sit top of La Liga on 7 points after three games, with Simeone’s side looking well-structured and sharp in the final third. For Sevilla, who drop to fifth on 6 points, the concern is less the defeat itself and more the manner of it: three goals conceded at home before the break against a side that was not even at full throttle in the second half.
Atletico Madrid
Sevilla
Ademola Lookman
Alex Baena