Atlético Madrid win late at Espanyol as post-departure balance faces its test

Álex Baena scored in the 89th minute at the RCDE Stadium on Saturday, and Atlético Madrid left with a 1-0 win that keeps their domestic run intact. The goal was late, the scoreline narrow, but the match itself was not: Atlético had 71% of the ball to Espanyol's 29%, took 19 shots to 10, put six on target to two, and won 64% of aerial duels. Espanyol did not register a single big chance. Atlético registered three.

That is the shape of the afternoon. It is also the shape of a question. Atlético arrived having won their last four league matches and sitting second in LaLiga, and they had beaten Manchester United 2-0 in the Champions League in midweek. Espanyol came in on a point-per-game return, mid-table, off a draw at Malaga. The result extends the gap between the two seasons: Atlético now have 22 points from nine games (7-1-1), Espanyol eight (2-2-5).

The interesting part is not the win. It is how the win was built. Atlético's 71% possession here sits well above their 60.2% average across earlier 2026/27 matches in all competitions. Their 12 corners here are more than double their earlier average of 5.2. Against a 5-4-1, they pinned Espanyol back and kept recycling the ball. The territorial control was heavier than usual, not lighter.

But the chance creation did not scale with it. Atlético's 1.34 expected goals here is below their earlier 2.38 average. Their open-play expected goals, 1.17, is below their earlier 1.81 average. So the picture is a side with more of the ball and more corners than usual, generating fewer clear openings than usual. The late goal was the release valve, not the product of a flood.

That is where the departures question sits. The sources do not confirm their current status, and this piece will not assert it. What the match offers is a data point: a midfield and defensive structure that held Espanyol to 0.53 expected goals and zero big chances, while converting possession into a narrower than usual attacking return.

Diego Simeone's side has been rebuilt around new arrivals — Morten Hjulmand, Rodrigo Mendoza, Obed Vargas, Cristian Romero, Jonathan David and Ademola Lookman among them. The win at Espanyol is evidence that the defensive solidity is holding. It is not yet evidence that the attacking balance has settled. One match with 71% possession and 1.34 expected goals is a single afternoon, not a trend.

The data does not settle that either. What it does show is a team controlling games more than before and creating less than before, winning late rather than early. Whether that is a transitional phase or the new shape of Atlético's season is the question the coming weeks will answer.