Soccer Football - LaLiga - Deportivo Alaves v Atletico Madrid - Estadio Mendizorroza, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain - August 30, 2025 Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann reacts REUTERS/Pankra Nieto
(Reuters) -Atletico Madrid's poor start to the LaLiga season continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Alaves on Saturday, leaving Diego Simeone's side winless after three matches, their worst start in his 14 years in charge.
Atletico languish 14th in the standings after taking two points from their opening three matches, having lost 2-1 at Espanyol and drawn 1-1 at home to promoted Elche.
Giuliano Simeone gave the visitors an early lead in the seventh minute, striking from close range after Thiago Almada's shot was parried by Alaves goalkeeper Antonio Sivera.
Simeone surged down the right wing before slotting home the rebound from Almada's shot.
Atletico could not hold on to their lead, however, and Alaves equalised seven minutes later after Alexander Sorloth fouled Nahuel Tenaglia and Carlos Vicente made no mistake from the penalty spot.
"We leave hurt. It's not normal that we have two points from nine," Giuliano Simeone told Movistar.
"They are hurting us with very little, and apart from the penalty there was nothing else. To have them equalise quickly, like what happened against Elche, catches you off guard even more."
The match was halted for 11 minutes following a medical emergency in the stands in the 56th minute and neither side could find a breakthrough when play resumed.
Atletico introduced Antoine Griezmann and Conor Gallagher in the second half, with the Frenchman rattling the post from close range following in the 77th minute after Sorloth's header was clawed away by Sivera.
"Sorloth had a header, Griezmann's effort that hit the post, Marcos Llorente ran out of strength at the end in the strike," Diego Simeone said.
"Alaves defended well, with a lot of effort, and we didn't have enough quality to break open a game that was actually favourable to us in terms of formation."
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
