Familiar away problems as Atletico Madrid slip out of title contention

For the seventh time already in LaLiga 2025/26, Atletico Madrid dropped points away from home last weekend. A 1-1 draw against a revitalised Real Sociedad, who were playing their first match under Pellegrino Matarazzo, saw Los Rojiblancos lose further ground on Real Madrid and Barcelona in a title race they are now most likely not even in.

At the midway point in the season for the “big three”, Atleti are 11 points off the top. Only a pretty spectacular Barca collapse could open the door to Diego Simeone’s side from this position.

Unlike their two rivals, there is not the same pressure on Atletico Madrid to win trophies every season. However, there is now an expectation that they at least compete for silverware, and push the two giants of Spanish football all the way in LaLiga.

Worryingly, they appear to have slipped into a repetitive cycle of home excellence, but away fragility, in the years since their last title win in the Covid-impacted 2020/21 season.

Fortress Metropolitano

Atletico Madrid’s 2025/26 campaign started in underwhelming fashion. After another summer of change with a host of comings and goings, Simeone’s men collected just two points from their opening three league fixtures against Espanyol, Elche and Alaves.

As has happened at regular intervals throughout his reign, Cholo’s critics began to sharpen their knives. Flaws were evident across the pitch, with injuries to the likes of Alex Baena making it tough for the Atleti boss to even lay the foundations for his new-look side.

Yet, since a highly unconvincing August, Atletico have quickly settled into their stride, on home soil at least. Following that opening draw against newly-promoted Elche, they’ve reeled off 11 straight home victories in all competitions. That includes a thumping 5-2 victory in the Madrid derby, and a 2-1 triumph over Inter in the Champions League.

Home points in LaLiga since Atleti’s last title win

When they left the atmospheric Vicente Calderon in 2017, many feared Atletico Madrid would struggle to recreate the same home advantage many miles away in a modern arena on the outskirts of the Spanish capital.

They needn’t have worried. On many different levels, the stadium move has been one of the most successful anywhere in Europe in recent times. The Estadio Metropolitano continues to generate a fantastic atmosphere on matchdays, with Atleti capable of beating anyone in front of their own fans.

Since they last won LaLiga, Los Rojiblancos have averaged 2.39 points per home game. Just five points in total separate the top three clubs in terms of their overall home records over that period.

Including their title-winning 2020/21 campaign, Atletico Madrid have actually picked up more home points than Real Madrid or Barcelona over a prolonged period of five and a half years.

Slip-ups on the road far too frequent

Away from home, it has been a very different story, with Atleti’s away performance levels and results again falling well short of the high standards they set at home.

Their average of just 1.3 points per away game this term is worse than the likes of Espanyol and Celta Vigo, and the main reason why they no longer look like genuine title candidates.

The underlying data makes even worse reading for Simeone, and hints at deeper problems in terms of how he is setting his team up away from home. Atleti have an xG Difference of -3.8 on their travels in LaLiga 2025/26. That’s only the 13th-best record.

An average of just 1.0 xG per 90 minutes away, compared to 2.3 xG per game at home, also highlights their creative issues whenever they leave Madrid.

Away points in LaLiga since Atleti’s last title win

“Teams at home are braver; it happens to almost everyone, it happens to most teams,” claimed Simeone following a 1-0 defeat at San Mames last month.

On some levels, he has a point, but Atletico Madrid have been disproportionately affected in recent years, at least compared to Real Madrid and Barcelona. Since winning LaLiga nearly five years ago, Atleti have collected 41 fewer away points than Los Blancos, and 46 fewer than Barca, from an identical number of matches.

That translates to around 10 fewer road points per season when compared to their rivals, the kind of margin that they simply cannot afford to give up and expect to stay in title contention.

Alvarez’s away-day blues sum up struggles

Atletico Madrid’s issues are perhaps best summed up by the form of their star player Julian Alvarez.

Few could argue that the €75m capture of the Argentine has not been a success. The ex-Man City man enjoyed a strong debut season in Spain, and has single-handedly dragged his team to victory on several occasions since his 2024 move to the Estadio Metropolitano.

At 25, he is heading into his peak years as a footballer, and Atleti may face a battle to hold onto the forward amid reported interest from Barcelona. Despite all that, Alvarez encapsulates the very issues that continue to hold this side back.

Following a brilliant free-kick at the RCDE Stadium on the opening matchday, Alvarez has failed to score away from home in LaLiga. Nine of his 10 goals in all competitions since then have come at the Metropolitano. The 2022 World Cup winner has scored with just one of his 16 shots away from home since that trip to Espanyol, which ended in a late defeat.

It’s tough to pinpoint the exact reasons why Alvarez and Atletico Madrid are capable of performing so well at home, yet so frequently falter on the road. A 3-0 victory away to an improving Girona side in December was a step in the right direction, but it was swiftly followed by a tame first-half showing at the Reale Arena in their next match.

Having dropped so many away points already, any turnaround will surely come too late to salvage their 2025/26 league season. However, this is clearly a longer-term issue, and it’s a puzzle that Simeone will need to solve if Atleti are going to win the title again under his leadership.

Mark is a freelance football writer based in Madrid, and the editor of LaLigaExpert.com. He has been covering LaLiga and European football since 2014.