Atletico Madrid start La Liga with victory over Malaga as Julian Alvarez is left out

Atletico Madrid began the new La Liga season with a 2-0 win over returning side Malaga, while Julian Alvarez was omitted from Diego Simeone’s squad as he considers his future.

Kang-in Lee and Alex Baena scored in the second half to secure Atletico’s opening three points of the campaign. The result gave Simeone’s side an important start against Malaga, who have returned to Spain’s top flight.

Alvarez, Atletico’s striker, was absent after Simeone decided not to include him in the squad while the player’s situation is resolved. His omission was the main talking point before kick-off, but Atletico eventually produced a decisive performance without him.

The breakthrough arrived in the 70th minute when new signing Kang-in Lee opened the scoring. The South Korean found the net with a curling effort that settled beyond the Malaga goalkeeper.

The goal also saw Kang-in Lee make Atletico history. He became the third-youngest foreign player to score on his debut for the club, achieving a feat that had not been recorded by Atletico since 2008.

Atletico then doubled their advantage five minutes from full-time. Baena sent a direct free-kick into the Malaga net in the 85th minute to complete the scoring and confirm victory for the visitors.

The goal gave Baena a place in the club’s record books as well. He became the first Spanish player to score a free-kick for Atletico since 2009.

The match was also significant for goalkeeper Jan Oblak. The Slovenia international kept a clean sheet in his 400th La Liga appearance for Atletico, becoming the first foreign player to reach that number of league matches for the club.

Oblak has conceded 313 goals across those 400 appearances and has recorded 187 clean sheets. His latest shutout helped Atletico see out a controlled opening-day win and ensured Malaga were unable to respond after the visitors took the lead.

Atletico will now turn their attention to their second league fixture, when they face Villarreal next Sunday at Wanda Metropolitano.

Malaga’s next match is against Deportivo La Coruna on the following Monday.