Atletico Madrid vs 19.08.26 19:002 – 0Full Time
Malaga — La Liga: stats, lineups & analysis
Match report
Atletico Madrid open La Liga campaign with win over Malaga
Atletico Madrid began their La Liga season with a 2-0 victory over Malaga at the Metropolitano Stadium, a result that lifted Diego Simeone's side to third in the early table. The first half finished goalless, though Atletico had already begun to assert control of proceedings against Juan Funes's visitors.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
The breakthrough arrived on 70 minutes when Lee Kang-In converted an assist from Dávid Hancko to put the hosts ahead. Atletico doubled their advantage with 15 minutes remaining as Álex Baena struck to make it 2-0, a scoreline that held until the final whistle and sent Malaga to defeat in their opening fixture.
Atletico dominated territory and chances throughout, finishing with 53 percent possession and 15 shots to Malaga's five, six of which were on target compared to just one for the visitors. The gulf was reflected in the underlying numbers too, with Atletico racking up 0.82 in expected goals against Malaga's 0.17.
Hancko earned an 8.3 rating after setting up the opening goal, while Lee Kang-In was close behind on 8.2 having scored the decisive first strike.
Atletico's 15 shots to Malaga's five underlined how comfortably they controlled the game in front of goal.
Atletico Madrid beat Malaga 2–0 (half-time 0–0).
Atletico Madrid met Malaga in the La Liga (Regular Season - 1). Kick-off was Wednesday, 19 August 2026, 19:00 UTC at Riyadh Air Metropolitano. Referee: Adrian Cordero Vega.
Team pages: Atletico Madrid · Malaga · La Liga
Key moments
- 70' Goal: Lee Kang-In (assist: Dávid Hancko) — 1–0 · Watch Lee Kang-In's goal video (70')
- 85' Goal: Álex Baena — 2–0 · Watch Álex Baena's goal video (85')
Starting line-ups
Atletico Madrid (4-1-4-1)
- 13 Jan Oblak
- 30 Dani MartÃnez
- 17 Dávid Hancko
- 24 Robin Le Normand
- 27 J. Dominguez
- 6 Koke (c)
- 16 Arnau Ortiz
- 8 Pablo Barrios
- 4 Rodrigo Mendoza
- 12 Carlos Martín
- 11 Ademola Lookman
Malaga (4-1-4-1)
- 1 Alfonso Herrero (c)
- 31 Rafita
- 4 Einar Galilea
- 15 Ángel Recio
- 3 Puga
- 23 Izan Merino
- 11 Joaquín Muñoz
- 22 Dani Lorenzo
- 8 Carlos Dotor
- 10 David Larrubia
- 9 Chupe
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave Atletico Madrid 73%, the draw 20%, Malaga 7%. It finished Atletico Madrid 2–0 Malaga.
Atletico Madrid's rating gap decides it — Atletico Madrid are clearly the stronger side on our strength rating, and La Liga home advantage on top makes it one-sided for Atletico Madrid. The draw at 20% is lifted by the early-season fade in home wins.
Why Atletico Madrid at 73%?
Atletico Madrid sit 302 points higher on our strength rating — 2002 to 1699. Sides with a more than 300-point rating edge at home won 79.8% of 5,069 such games. La Liga home sides out-perform the global norm — and the difference mostly flows to away wins (28.3% vs 30.2%). La Liga homes won 46.7% of 6,085 games vs 44.9% across all 99,137 — outside the noise band, so the tally moves accordingly. The 300 most similar past games finished 71–19–10.
Why not higher?
Both sides are inside their first six league games — home wins land softer this early in the season, so this trims Atletico Madrid's column. Across 10,627 opening-stretch games since 2010, home sides won 42.8% where the rating map expected 44.9%, with draws up 2.1 — negative in every season since 2018.
Why is the draw only 20%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 18.2%. These teams' recent games average 3.0 goals — a typical goals environment. Games in that environment drew 24.6% of 24,814. Early-season fixtures add 2.1 points to the draw.
What did we measure but not count?
Malaga have gained 68 strength-rating points over their last 10 games. Momentum is measured but not yet proven: climbing sides won 41.5% of 12,174 such games vs 40.7% class-expected — inside the noise band, so it stays at 0 points until the receipt clears its evidence bar. Malaga are newly promoted — game 1 of their first ten at this level, where our rating knows them least. Promoted sides ran below their rating in nine of the last ten seasons — 26.5% wins in their first ten games where the rating expected 30.0% (2,793 games since 2012), fading but still visible through game nineteen. The other measured facts on this page scored nothing either.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the Atletico Madrid vs Malaga final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this La Liga fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from Atletico Madrid 2–0 Malaga. Explore more on the Atletico Madrid and Malaga team pages or the La Liga page.
Quick answers
›What was the final score of Atletico Madrid vs Malaga?
Atletico Madrid beat Malaga 2–0 (half-time 0–0).
›Who scored in Atletico Madrid vs Malaga?
Lee Kang-In (70') for Atletico Madrid; Álex Baena (85') for Atletico Madrid.
›Where can I watch Atletico Madrid vs Malaga highlights?
Goal highlights and video clips from Atletico Madrid 2–0 Malaga are on this page — open the videos tab to watch every goal.
›What is the head-to-head record between Atletico Madrid and Malaga?
Atletico Madrid and Malaga have met 10 times — 7 wins for Atletico Madrid, 1 win for Malaga and 2 draws.