Five Conceded on the Final Day, Third Place Slips Away: 90 Minutes at La Cerámica That Encapsulated the Season's Flaws

A direct duel for third place

Matchday 38, the final day of the 2025-26 La Liga season. On May 24 at the Estadio de la Cerámica, the stakes went beyond what the standings alone could convey. Villarreal and Atlético Madrid were level on 69 points with identical goal differences. The winner would finish third; the loser, fourth. Atlético could have secured third with a draw, but this is not a team that enters any match content to settle for a point. Diego Simeone made his intentions clear in his pre-match press conference: "Tomorrow's match is important. Throughout the season we've been below third. We want to finish as high as possible in the final round, which means third."

It is worth clarifying what was not at stake. This was not a fight for Champions League qualification itself: fourth place still guaranteed a spot in the competition. What mattered was the difference between finishing third and fourth, and whether this squad could deliver a performance worthy of the final day.

The circumstances were far from ideal. Julián Álvarez, José María Giménez, Pablo Barrios, Nahuel Molina, Johnny Cardoso, Nico González, Thiago Almada and Rodrigo Mendoza were all ruled out through injury, while Robin Le Normand was suspended after accumulating yellow cards. Clément Lenglet and Marc Pubill filled in across the back line, with Obed Vargas given a midfield role. The question was not merely about depth; it was about what Simeone's side could produce with these available pieces.

The penalty that broke the dam

In the opening half-hour, Atlético were not significantly outplayed. They held possession comfortably, and the front line of Antoine Griezmann and Ademola Lookman created some promising moments in the Villarreal half. Nicolas Pépé posed a threat on three occasions inside the first 11 minutes, but the visitors were not being overrun.

The turning point arrived on 30 minutes. Pépé was brought down inside the penalty area by goalkeeper Juan Musso, and a spot kick was awarded. Dani Parejo, in his final match before leaving Villarreal, sent Musso the wrong way to make it 1-0. Whether that single goal was the trigger or the equilibrium had always been fragile, the next spell of play would provide the answer.

Four conceded before the break

On 34 minutes, Marcos Llorente lost possession on Atlético's right flank, allowing Alfonso Pedraza to advance and deliver a cross. Dávid Hancko's attempted clearance fell short, and Ayoze Pérez pounced on the loose ball, driving a left-footed half-volley into the net. Two goals down in four minutes. From the initial turnover to the cross, the failed clearance and the finish, the defensive response was delayed at every stage.

On 40 minutes, Pérez held up a long ball to spark a counterattack, then laid it off for Georges Mikautadze, who left Lenglet stranded before firing emphatically past Musso. It was 3-0. Lenglet was clearly late into position, and by the time he attempted to close down, the contest was already over. Into the Calderón's assessment that Lenglet was "directly involved" in the first, third and fifth goals was less an emotional verdict than a factual description.

On 43 minutes, Atlético pulled one back. Griezmann's corner found Pubill arriving at the far post to bundle the ball home. It was Griezmann's final assist in an Atlético shirt, and the only moment in this match when an attacking move translated into a goal.

The reprieve was short-lived. In first-half added time, Pape Gueye unleashed a left-footed strike from outside the box that flew beyond Musso's reach. It was 4-1. Between Parejo's penalty on 30 minutes and Gueye's goal in added time, Atlético conceded four. Pubill's header had briefly interrupted the collapse, but it did nothing to reverse the momentum.

According to Opta data reported by beIN Sports, it was the first time in Simeone's 800-match tenure that Atlético had conceded four goals in the first half of a match. A record that once epitomised the defensive resilience of the Simeone era was shattered on the season's final day.

No second-half comeback materialised

Simeone made three substitutions at half-time: Alexander Sørloth replaced Giuliano Simeone, Aleksa Purić came on for Hancko, and Matteo Ruggeri took over from Pubill, who reported feeling unwell. The intention was clear: add Sørloth's aerial presence in attack and reshape a broken defensive line. But a three-goal deficit left almost no margin for error.

Shortly after the restart, Álex Baena tried his luck from the left side of the box on 47 minutes, but his left-footed effort sailed wide. Any hope of a fightback was extinguished seven minutes later when Pérez struck again. Collecting a pass from Pépé, he drilled the ball into the bottom-left corner to make it 5-1. The match was effectively over.

Musso denied Mikautadze with a save from a right-footed shot on 80 minutes to prevent a sixth. In the 61st minute, Javi Morcillo had replaced Baena and Javier Boñar had come on for Lookman. Both cantera products chased every ball during their time on the pitch, but the game was beyond salvaging by that stage.

The statistics paint a nuanced picture. Atlético held 52% possession and registered more touches in the opposition box (32 to 26) and more corners (9 to 5). Their passing tally of 467 successful passes also exceeded Villarreal's 432, confirming that the visitors were not starved of the ball. Yet Atlético squandered three big chances compared to Villarreal's one. They created opportunities but failed to convert them, letting slip any means of compensating for their defensive errors. The xG figures told a similar story: Villarreal 2.45, Atlético 1.16. Even by underlying metrics, Villarreal generated the higher-quality openings.

A bitter farewell for Griezmann

For Antoine Griezmann, this was his last match as an Atlético Madrid player. The 35-year-old Frenchman, bound for Orlando City SC, had been given an emotional send-off at the Metropolitano in the previous home fixture.

The ending at La Cerámica could not have been more different. The corner kick that led to Pubill's goal on 43 minutes was the clearest mark Griezmann left on the match. His FotMob rating of 7.4 was the highest in the Atlético squad, but it was a number swallowed by a 5-1 defeat. It is not unusual for a player's final game to end in a loss, but conceding five goals ensured that his last appearance in the red-and-white shirt would carry a painful memory.

Six wins, five draws, eight defeats on the road

Atlético's away record in the league this season finished at six wins, five draws and eight defeats, yielding just 23 points from a possible 57. At home, they accumulated 46 points from 19 matches with a record of 15 wins, one draw and three losses. Of their total of 69 points, barely a third came away from the Metropolitano. At home, Atlético remained a formidable proposition; on their travels, they could not find consistency. The five goals conceded at La Cerámica might look like an isolated accident, but it cannot be separated from a season-long pattern of defensive fragility on the road.

Simeone himself acknowledged the issue in his pre-match press conference. "We've improved a lot on the offensive end," he said. "Despite the criticism, we play well, we attack well, we scored a lot of goals in the Champions League and in La Liga. But we need to improve defensively." He added: "Balance matters. Arsenal, in my view, is the most balanced team among those competing at the highest level." Hearing those words and then revisiting the 5-1 scoreline, it becomes clear that the "balance" Simeone identified as essential was entirely absent from the pitch that evening.

After the match, Koke spoke in a similar vein, stressing that conceding so many goals was unacceptable and that the squad would need to address the issue before next season. The disappointment extended well beyond this final day. In the Champions League, Atlético were eliminated in the semi-finals by Arsenal, losing 1-2 on aggregate. In the Copa del Rey final, they fell to Real Sociedad on penalties. Three competitions, no silverware.

Fourth place and 69 points: what comes next

The final tally reads fourth place on 69 points, 25 behind champions Barcelona and three adrift of Villarreal in third. In a match where a draw would have been enough, the team's performance fell short of what a third-place finish demands.

Assuming Simeone continues at the helm, a tenure approaching 15 years means he knows better than anyone what needs to change. The problems exposed by this defeat are not the kind that a single signing can fix. The injury list revealed the squad's lack of depth, but the more troubling issue is that the players who were available collapsed within minutes of conceding the penalty on 30 minutes.

It seems fair to say that the current squad, as constructed, is some distance from winning the biggest trophies. This 5-1 final-day result reinforced that impression. In the Champions League semi-final against Arsenal, the margin was razor-thin at 1-2 on aggregate. To close that gap at the highest level, improving the attack alone will not suffice; reducing the number of goals conceded through greater stability is just as important. Simeone's description of Arsenal as "the most balanced team" at the elite level implicitly acknowledged that his own side has yet to achieve that balance. The recruitment priorities for next season should lean towards strengthening the defensive line and the quality of the midfield.

One would like to commend the players for their efforts over a long season, but this was a painfully bitter final 90 minutes. Still, the fact that the final matchday featured a direct showdown for third place gave the occasion genuine meaning within the broader arc of the campaign. Whether the club can look squarely at what that showdown revealed and channel it into next season's rebuild is the question that now sits with Simeone and the board.

Ratings

Starting XI

Substitutes

※ItC ratings via Into the Calderón; FotMob ratings via FotMob.