Lee Kang-in’s first Atletico goal broke Malaga, 70 minutes into their return to La Liga

For seventy minutes on Wednesday night, Malaga’s first La Liga match in eight years was going about as well as anyone at the club could have hoped. Atletico Madrid could not get past Alfonso Herrero, 65,785 people at the Metropolitano were getting restless, and a point looked genuinely possible. Then Atletico scored twice in fifteen minutes, and neither goal had much to do with any of that.

Lee Kang-in, and a first goal in red and white

Lee collected a crossfield ball from David Hancko, went past three Malaga defenders on his way in from the right, and bent a left-footed shot inside the far post. It was his first goal for Atletico, on his debut, three and a half weeks after they paid Paris Saint-Germain 40 million euros for him on a five-year deal.

Alex Baena finished it off five minutes from time. Izan Merino brought him down just outside the box, and Baena clipped the free-kick over the wall and into the top corner. Two goals, both from outside the area, and the first of them from a man who had started the evening on the bench.

Simeone was not interested in picking one. “It would be unfair to single out Alex or Kang-In. Both were fantastic,” he said afterwards. “They were two brilliant goals. We needed them. Malaga played a great game.”

Baena is the one Atletico are leaning on

Baena has come back from the World Cup in the best form of his career. He was in the Spain side that beat Argentina 1-0 in extra time in the final, along with Atletico team-mates Marcos Llorente, Pubill and Grimaldo, and he arrived at that tournament having already won the Euros in 2024 and Olympic gold weeks later.

With Antoine Griezmann gone at the end of last season, the obvious question is whether Baena inherits that role. Simeone would not have it. “I’m not looking for someone like Griezmann. Everyone is different,” he said. “Alex is in a good place right now, you can see he’s playing well. We have to take advantage of that energy you get from winning a World Cup.”

Julian Alvarez did not play. He is still working back to fitness after his own post-World Cup break, and ESPN reported on Wednesday that Barcelona have shelved their pursuit of him and moved on to other striker options before the window shuts on 1 September.

Malaga did more than turn up

This was a long way back for Malaga. They went down from La Liga in 2018, fell again into the third tier in 2023, and only came back up in June by beating Almeria in the promotion play-off final. The two clubs had not met in the league since 2017-18.

Herrero was the reason it stayed level as long as it did, saving from Rodrigo Mendoza early and from Ademola Lookman after the break. Carlos Martin, Lee and Hancko all put chances off target before Lee finally found the corner, and Hancko headed against the bar not long after the opener. Malaga created little going the other way, and they are one of only four sides to have lost already. Atletico sit third.

Malaga’s next one is at home to Deportivo La Coruna on Monday, two promoted sides meeting in week two. Atletico host Villarreal on Sunday.

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