Atlético de Madrid are expected to change again on Sunday evening when Villarreal visit the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, and Diego Simeone is considering first starts for Álex Grimaldo and Morten Hjulmand. The shuffle comes only days after Atlético beat newly-promoted Málaga with two late goals, a result that kept the pressure on a squad still being managed carefully at the start of 2026/27.
The reason this match is drawing attention is simple: if Atlético win, they would open a year with consecutive LaLiga victories for the first time since 2021. That is why the meeting with Villarreal matters beyond the table position it carries on its own. Atlético also lost their last meeting with Villarreal 5-1 at La Cerámica to close the 2025/26 season, a reminder that this is not a fixture Simeone can treat as routine, even at home.
Inside the selection, the shape is becoming clearer, even if the final names are not. Simeone tested Grimaldo and Marcos Llorente as the full-backs either side of Dávid Hancko and Robin Le Normand, then tried a midfield of Hjulmand, Koke and Pablo Barrios. In that version, Barrios would drift from the left-hand side and push Giuliano Simeone closer to the penalty area, while Rodrigo Mendoza is in line for a second successive start and is being examined as either an attacking midfielder or as a second striker next to Ademola Lookman.
That is also where the friction sits. Cristian Romero must keep waiting for his Atlético debut as a starter, Julian Alvarez is only fit enough for the bench, and Álex Baena and Lee Kang-in are likely to come off it again. Atlético can sketch a recognizable lineup, but several of the players most capable of changing it are still not ready to begin. That leaves Simeone trying to make the same team work in more than one structure, with Lookman still needed at center-forward while the club looks for another attacker on the market.
There is precedent for caution here. Villarreal have won or drawn half of their 24 league games at the Metropolitano and the Vicente Calderón, and Atlético’s last home defeat to them came three years ago. Simeone also knows this kind of contest can be unforgiving in a different way: in his four meetings with Iñigo Pérez while Pérez was in charge of Rayo Vallecano, he won two, drew one and lost the most recent one, a 3-0 defeat at Butarque in February. Sunday will not just decide whether Atlético go 2-for-2 in LaLiga this season. It will show how far Simeone can push a half-built squad before the missing pieces finally become starters rather than options.
