The shock of the new La Liga season happened in the first match week as Espanyol came back from a 1-0 deficit to defeat Atletico Madrid 2-1 at the RCDE Stadium. Diego Simeone’s team took the lead in the 37th minute courtesy of a Julian Alvarez free kick.
Espanyol found the equalizer in the 73rd minute as Miguel Rubio scored in the box. The comeback was complete in the 84th minute as a great header from Pere Milla went past Jan Oblak. The result is historic in terms of Diego Simeone’s time at Atletico Madrid.
The 2025-26 season marks his 15th consecutive season as Atletico Madrid manager. This is the first time Atletico Madrid has lost their first game of a La Liga season under Simeone.
The last time Atletico Madrid lost the first league game of the season was in 2009 under the manager Abel Resino, when they lost 3-0 against Malaga.
Mister Chip, a sports expert from Spain, reports curious facts about Atletico Madrid’s historic loss against Espanyol.
This is the first time since 2007 that Atletico Madrid lost their La Liga opener after taking the lead. In 2007, Atletico Madrid lost 1-2 to Real Madrid in the Madrid derby. Sergio Aguero scored for Atleti while the goal scorers for Real Madrid were Raul and Wesley Sneijder.
Atletico were close to tying the record for the most consecutive matches without losing in the first match day of La Liga. They ended the streak to 15 consecutive matches in the first match day, with Real Madrid securing two streaks of 16 consecutive matches undefeated in the first round.
Real Madrid could make history on Tuesday against Osasuna and become the only team with 17 consecutive undefeated games in the first round of a La Liga season, which started in 2009.
Atletico Madrid is considered one of the favorites to win La Liga this season, but after the loss in the first round, their chances have been hindered.
Not many teams that lose the first round go on to win La Liga; the last time that happened was in the 2008-09 season as FC Barcelona won the title but lost 1-0 to CD Numancia in the first match day.
