Griezmann has gone, and Álvarez looks unlikely too
Atlético Madrid's 2026-27 season begins at 21:00 CEST on Wednesday 19 August against Málaga. La Liga, matchday one, at the Metropolitano. The visitors are back in the top flight after eight years, and on paper this is a night when three points should be banked. The problem is that the front line meant to go and get them is nowhere in view.
Antoine Griezmann is no longer here. The Frenchman, who made 501 appearances and left as the club's all-time leading scorer with 212 goals, joined Orlando City this summer.
Griezmann's exit was known all summer. What became unreadable in the final days was Julián Álvarez. At his pre-match press conference Diego Simeone said he does not see him in a condition to play or take part in this one. It is not an injury. Álvarez reported back on 10 August and trained for the first time on the 11th, which leaves him eight days of pre-season. Several outlets in Spain report he has been left out of the squad. He is expected back on Sunday against Villarreal.
Alexander Sørloth misses out with a muscle injury. Those two shared last season's club scoring lead with 20 goals apiece in all competitions, and Atlético open the campaign without either of them. Cristian Romero, signed on 15 August, has been working to an individual programme since he arrived and is not expected to feature.
Álvarez saying during the World Cup that he wanted a move has not gone away for supporters. Simeone, pointing to the club's owner ruling out a sale in the clearest possible terms, said it was like a court case: no grounds. He also said they will try to build a team around him. Having decided not to sell, Atlético cannot afford to make a mess of how they use him.
A third-tier top scorer in the starting conversation tells you enough
So who leads the line? Ademola Lookman is the likeliest. He arrived from Atalanta in February and has 9 goals in 24 appearances in half a season; in La Liga that is 4 goals in 622 minutes, so the rate is fine. He can play centrally or wide, and against a deep block he is better receiving to feet and running at people than chasing balls in behind.
The other name is Arnau Ortiz. He is 24, finished last season as the top scorer in Primera Federación with 23 goals, and played in all four pre-season friendlies, scoring twice. The winner at Marseille came from his pass as well. The club promoted him to the first team this week and gave him the number 16, vacated by Nahuel Molina's move to Roma. His directness and his speed with the ball are real, and off the bench he can change a game.
As an impact substitute, though, is where I would keep him. A player who was in the third tier last season being in the conversation to start on opening day is not something to celebrate. For a side back in the Champions League this season, the forward line should be led by players who have built something at this level. Look at the summer as a whole: Grimaldo and Romero have rebuilt the back line, Hjulmand tightens the midfield. Which leaves the attack as the one area still thin.
I do not think Álvarez's absence is worth mourning. He delivered in the big games last season, scoring 10 in the Champions League and setting a club record for a single campaign. He also went close to four months without a league goal. And Atlético scored in all four pre-season friendlies without him. The issue is not one missing player. It is the depth of the forward line.
Málaga arrive with a rebuilt back line
Málaga went down from La Liga in 2018 and dropped out of the second tier as well in 2023. They have come back with two promotions from the third division. Last season they finished fourth in Segunda on 73 points, scoring 75 and conceding 52: a side that went up trading punches rather than shutting games down.
Juanfran Funes, their coach, is a PE teacher on leave from his post who has committed himself to coaching. He joined in 2020-21 to run the B team and took over the first team midway through last season, replacing Sergio Pellicer with the club in a relegation fight, then carried them up. Many of these players are ones he developed in the academy. Since he took charge Málaga have become a side that attacks boldly from possession. If they try to keep doing that tonight, that suits us.
Tonight, though, they cannot put out the team they would want. Between injuries and unresolved transfer situations, eight players did not travel. Aarón Ochoa is suspended and has a meniscus problem on top of it, and Fernando Calero, the centre-back they signed this summer, is injured and out of the squad. Who partners Einar Galilea at the back is not agreed on locally. Carlos Dotor made the 22 after recovering.
They do have someone up front worth worrying about. Chupe, the number 9, is 21 and scored 24 in the Segunda regular season, and he scored in the second leg of the promotion final too. Málaga will spend long spells defending their own box, and how well they cope depends on whether anyone can hold the ball when it comes back at them.
Who is Grimaldo's ball supposed to find?
With these squads, Atlético will have the ball for most of the night. Breaking down a set defence was not what this team did well last season. Too many games slowed to a crawl against a deep block and finished with the chance count stuck.
What I want to see is how much Alejandro Grimaldo can deliver from the left. The crossing he showed at Leverkusen gives you a different angle from outside when the middle is packed. He has had little pre-season football himself, so 90 minutes is not a given. With Matteo Ruggeri's move to Aston Villa reported, Grimaldo looks set to be the only specialist left-back at the club. The left side this summer rests on how he plays.
Kang-in Lee gets the job of turning in tight spaces. Once someone turns in the middle, the defence squeezes inwards, and that is what frees Grimaldo outside. How high up the pitch Morten Hjulmand can get on the ball will shape how the side sets up when they push on.
A home opener against a promoted side missing eight players: winning is the baseline. What is being tested is the substance, and what I will be watching is whether the balls from wide find anyone. Neither Lookman nor Arnau Ortiz is the kind of nine who waits at the back post. If we get the picture of Grimaldo putting a good ball in with nobody there, and get it more than once, then the thinness up front becomes something to fix before the window closes.