Soccer
Despite adding Ademola Lookman to a star-studded frontline that already included Antoine Griezmann, Alexander Sorloth and Julian Alvarez, Diego Simeone wants to see Atletico Madrid share the goals around.
Lookman joined Atleti from Atalanta for €35m on Monday, then scored on his debut as Simeone’s men thrashed Real Betis 5-0 in the Copa del Rey three days later.
Atleti will be reunited with Betis in LaLiga on Sunday, having gone unbeaten through their last six top-flight games.
Simeone’s side, who are 13 points adrift of leaders Barcelona with a game in hand, had five different scorers in their midweek win, and he wants them to continue threatening from all areas of the pitch.
Atleti’s coach said: “I have no doubt that we don’t depend purely on goals from Griezmann, Lookman, Sorloth and Julian.
“We depend on the collective game, on set-pieces and everything we can generate together. It’s clear it’s not just the goals of the strikers that count.”
Asked about his plans for Lookman, who was thrown straight into the starting lineup on Thursday, Simeone said: “We will try to get to know each other little by little.
“He must get used to the team and we must get used to his offensive characteristics, how he likes to attack, and we’ll see what best suits us.”
His first pic.twitter.com/q7uW62UqRg
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) February 7, 2026
Betis are fifth in LaLiga and hoping to maintain their slim hopes of a top-four finish.
And head coach Manuel Pellegrini has not been disheartened by Thursday’s hefty defeat.
“We are always self-critical after each game,” he said. “We had a game with many mistakes, against an opponent who played a great game.
“It hurt us a lot, but now it’s time to look for the best way. It coincides that it is against the same opponent, but not all games are the same.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Atletico Madrid – Alex Baena
Baena has scored three goals in seven LaLiga appearances against Betis (including one in this season’s reverse fixture in October); his most against an opponent in the competition.
The playmaker has scored twice and set up one more goal in LaLiga for Atleti this term.
Real Betis – Pablo Fornals
Fornals has scored six goals in 22 appearances in LaLiga in 2025-26, equalling his best goalscoring tally in a single league campaign.
He previously achieved that feat with Malaga in 2016-17 (LaLiga) and with West Ham in 2021-22 (Premier League).
MATCH PREDICTION: ATLETICO MADRID WIN
Atletico are unbeaten in their last 12 home matches against Real Betis in LaLiga (W11 D1), since a 2-0 loss in December 2011 in their final league match before the Simeone era began.
This is their best unbeaten home run against Betis since April 1980 (20 games without defeat – W15 D5).
Betis have also lost on each of their last seven visits to the Metropolitano in LaLiga, their worst run of consecutive away defeats against Atletico in their top-flight history.
Our squad list for #AtletiRealBetis! pic.twitter.com/UDlm7CGIYd
— Real Betis Balompié (@RealBetis_en) February 7, 2026
And, after winning the reverse fixture 2-0, Atleti could complete a LaLiga double over Betis without conceding in either game for the fourth time in their history, after previously doing so in 1984-85, 2008-09 and 2013-14.
Overall, Atleti have won their last 10 La Liga matches at the Metropolitano. Only once before in their history have the Rojiblancos registered a winning run of 11 or more games in a single top-flight campaign, doing so in 2012-13 (13).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Atletico Madrid – 61.8%
Real Betis – 18.8%
Draw – 19.4%
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