Diego Simeone says Atletico Madrid are still short of the level required to compete with Europe’s leading clubs after a 2-0 Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich.
Lennart Karl and Konrad Laimer scored in the second half to condemn Atletico to their second defeat in this season’s competition and leave them 22nd in the 36-team standings.
Atletico created opportunities before the interval, with Julian Alvarez shooting narrowly wide and Pablo Barrios seeing a goal-bound effort deflected over Manuel Neuer’s crossbar. Neither side managed a shot on target in the first half, the first time both teams in a Champions League match had failed to do so since Club Brugge v Juventus in January 2025.
Bayern had the stronger first-half numbers, recording an expected goals (xG) figure of 1.08 from nine shots compared with Atletico’s 0.37 from four attempts. In the second period, Bayern’s xG rose to 1.91, while Atletico reached 1.02.
Karl opened the scoring in the 54th minute after taking advantage of Robin Le Normand’s hesitation inside the Atletico penalty area before beating Jan Oblak.
Bayern then secured victory when Harry Kane’s pass over the top found Laimer. The defender was given time to control the ball and fire into the roof of the net, with no Atletico player closing him down.
Atletico have won only one of their past seven Champions League matches, drawing two and losing four, after winning three of the previous four. Their defensive record at home in Europe has also declined, with only two clean sheets in their past 17 matches compared with 17 in the previous 28.
“We know that when we play against important opponents it can happen,” Simeone told reporters.
“Liverpool and Bayern are better than us, we have to get closer to them. We have to reach 120 because 100 is not going to reach us.”
Asked what he had learned from the defeat, Simeone said: “We managed it well. Sorloth’s presence helped us.
“We could bet on a more direct game by winning the second ball. He gave us a lot. The match was on that side.
“We played it the way we wanted, but the first goal came, and we didn’t know how to react. With the second goal, the game ended.”
Atletico had arrived in Munich after a 2-0 LaLiga victory over Levante, their seventh consecutive league win and the longest active winning run in Europe’s top five leagues.
Alexander Sorloth said Atletico had been unable to maintain their performance after half-time.
“Bayern are one of the best teams in the world. In the first half, we defended well, we had some opportunities, and we only missed the final pass,” he said.
“So the first half was decent, but in the second half we got tired. We did not have the legs and Bayern scored.
“Of course, we wanted to have more points than this, but we have four games left. Every time we go out onto the pitch we want to win. We hope to win our final games.”
Marcos Llorente added: “They’re a very strong team; we were holding our own, but it’s the little things that decide the game, and we didn’t expect that first goal.
“It came down to the little things – not staying calm enough on that final pass, not rushing, and being more aggressive in attack by getting players into the box.”
