Villarreal convincingly defeated Atlético Madrid and confirmed third place at the end of LaLiga
Villarreal CF ended the 2025/26 LaLiga EA Sports season in a highly convincing manner, with a 5:1 victory against Atlético de Madrid at the Estadio de la Cerámica in Villarreal's final appearance in the 38th round. According to LaLiga's official data, the home team celebrated with goals from Dani Parejo, Ayoze Pérez, Georges Mikautadze and Pape Gueye, while the only goal for the visitors was scored by Marc Pubill. The match was played on 24 May 2026 at 21:00, and LaLiga stated that there were 18,683 spectators at the stadium. The result had a direct impact on the final standings, as Villarreal finished the season in third place with 72 points, while Atlético remained fourth with 69 points. Both teams, according to the final competition table, remained in the Champions League zone, but the duel in Castellón clearly showed the difference in energy, efficiency and control of key moments.
A series of goals in the first half decided the match
According to LaLiga's official match report, the match was decided in terms of the score between the 30th and 45th minutes, when Villarreal scored four goals and practically settled the question of the winner before the break. Dani Parejo opened the sequence in the 30th minute from the penalty spot, after, according to LaLiga's textual commentary, Juan Musso conceded a penalty with a foul on Nicolas Pépé in the penalty area. Just four minutes later Ayoze Pérez increased the lead to 2:0, and in the 40th minute Georges Mikautadze finished off a counterattack after an assist from Ayoze and scored for 3:0. Atlético briefly reduced the deficit through Marc Pubill in the 43rd minute, after Antoine Griezmann's corner delivery, but the home team restored its three-goal advantage already in first-half stoppage time. Pape Gueye scored in the 45th minute, assisted by Nicolas Pépé, so Villarreal went into half-time with a 4:1 lead.
That sequence of events was particularly important because Atlético, although it had periods of possession and several attempts, failed to slow down the home side's transitions or close the space in front of its own penalty area. LaLiga states in its official report that Giuliano Simeone received a yellow card in the 27th minute, just before Villarreal's penalty, which further marked the visitors' nervous entry into the closing stage of the first half. Diego Simeone reacted at the very start of the second half with three changes, bringing on Alexander Sørloth, Aleksa Purić and Matteo Ruggeri. However, even that move did not change the direction of the match. Ayoze Pérez, in the 54th minute, assisted by Pépé, scored his second goal of the match and set the final score at 5:1.
Ayoze Pérez and Pépé led the attacking efficiency
According to LaLiga's official statistics, Villarreal had 47.7 percent of possession, while Atlético finished with 52.3 percent. However, that figure did not reflect the real danger in the final phase of attacks, because the home team had 14 shots, compared with nine shots by the visitors. LaLiga presented Villarreal's finishing efficiency at 55.6 percent, while Atlético was at 11.1 percent, which explains well why the match turned into a convincing home victory despite the visitors not being completely cut off from the ball. Villarreal had five corners, Atlético nine, but the home side made better use of the opponent's mistakes and the open space after winning the ball.
Ayoze Pérez was the standout individual in Villarreal's season finale because he scored two goals and assisted Mikautadze for the third goal. Nicolas Pépé was not a scorer, but he took part in the key moves: he won the penalty from which Parejo scored the opening goal and assisted Gueye and Ayoze. Mikautadze confirmed the attacking impact with a goal in the 40th minute, while Parejo, with his penalty, opened the match at a moment when the home side needed a calm and precise solution. According to LaLiga's official line-ups, Villarreal played in a 4-4-2 system under Marcelino, with Arnau Tenas in goal and Ayoze and Mikautadze in attack. Atlético started in a 4-3-3 formation, but after falling heavily behind had to change the team's structure early.
Villarreal concluded the season ahead of Atlético Madrid
The victory brought Villarreal to a final record of 22 wins, six draws and ten defeats, with a goal difference of 72:46. According to the final LaLiga table, the club from Castellón finished third with 72 points, behind champions Barcelona and second-placed Real Madrid. Atlético de Madrid ended the season fourth with 69 points, with 21 wins, six draws and 11 defeats and a goal difference of 62:44. In the direct duel for third place, Villarreal thus created a three-point gap and avoided finishing the season level on points with the Madrid club. For the home team, it was a finish that, according to the official figures, confirmed its place near the top of the Spanish championship and delivered a psychologically important result ahead of the new season.
On a broader level, the match showed how decisive the final details are in the fight for positions behind the biggest favourites of Spanish football. Barcelona, according to the LaLiga table, finished the season with 94 points, and Real Madrid with 86, while Villarreal and Atlético formed the next competitive layer. Such a ranking gives special weight to the head-to-head meeting in the final round because it was not merely a formal closing of the championship. With the victory, Villarreal confirmed third place and finished the season with a positive goal difference of 26 goals, while Atlético, after a heavy defeat, remained in fourth position with a positive difference of 18 goals. According to the competition legend on the LaLiga website, the first four positions are in the Champions League zone, meaning that the defeat for Atlético was heavy in terms of both result and symbolism, but it did not change the club's basic European status.
Atlético marked Simeone's 800th match on the bench with a heavy defeat
The match gained additional weight from the fact that Diego Pablo Simeone led Atlético de Madrid for the 800th time against Villarreal. In an official announcement, the club stated that the Argentine coach reached that figure after 15 seasons on the bench and that, before the match at the Estadio de la Cerámica, he had 470 wins, 168 draws and 162 defeats. Atlético also recalled that Simeone arrived at the club at the end of 2011 and made his debut as coach in January 2012 against Málaga. In the same overview, the club highlighted that under Simeone it had won two Spanish league titles, the Copa del Rey, the Spanish Super Cup, two Europa Leagues and two European Super Cups. However, on the pitch the jubilee remained overshadowed by a convincing defeat that exposed defensive weaknesses and problems in the reaction after conceding goals.
Simeone's Atlético had for years been recognisable for its solid organisation, discipline and ability to keep the number of mistakes to a minimum in big matches. This encounter was the opposite of that pattern, because the team conceded four goals in a short period and failed to come back even after Marc Pubill's goal. Atlético de Madrid's club post-match report summarised the event with a headline about defeat at La Cerámica and stated that the team lost to Villarreal in the final league match of the season. In its updates during the match, Atlético also confirmed that Hancko and Pubill left the game due to indisposition, and the three changes at the start of the second half further showed how much the coach wanted to immediately change the rhythm and physical picture of the team. But the score in the 54th minute, when Ayoze scored for 5:1, left the visitors very little room for a comeback.
Llorente reached 300 appearances in the red-and-white shirt
The match was also significant for Marcos Llorente, who, according to Atlético de Madrid's official announcement, made his 300th appearance for the club against Villarreal. Atlético stated that Llorente arrived at the club in the summer of 2019 and officially made his debut on 18 August of the same year in a league match against Getafe. In the same text, the club recalled his versatility under Simeone, pointing out that he had played in different roles in defence and attack. According to the club announcement, Llorente had recorded 36 goals and 44 assists in the Atlético Madrid shirt by the time of that jubilee. Such an individual milestone, however, remained in the background because of a result that was one of the most unpleasant endings to the season for the Madrid team.
For Atlético, the defeat is also important because of the way it happened. The team conceded five goals away from home, and LaLiga's official statistics show that Villarreal extracted maximum value from 14 shots. Particularly problematic were situations after lost balls and reactions in its own penalty area, starting with the penalty in the 28th minute. Although Atlético had more possession, more corners and enough time after reducing the score to 3:1, it failed to establish pressure that would force Villarreal into a longer period of defending. The final 5:1 was therefore not just the result of one bad episode, but the sum of a series of mistakes that the home side punished quickly and precisely.
An efficient end to the season and a clear message from La Cerámica
For Villarreal, this victory had competitive and symbolic value. Competitively, the club ended the season in third place with the win, ahead of a direct rival. Symbolically, the way it defeated Atlético showed that the team has attacking variety and the ability to punish even the smallest space. Parejo brought experience and calmness from the spot, Ayoze finishing and movement in the penalty area, Mikautadze speed in transition, and Pépé creativity and decisive actions before the goals. Such a distribution of impact is important because it shows that the victory did not depend on one player, but on several attacking solutions in different phases of the match.
Atlético, on the other hand, will analyse the end of the championship differently. Fourth place and qualification for the elite European framework remain an important sporting result, but the 5:1 defeat in the final round raises questions about defensive stability, squad depth and the team's ability to control matches in which it loses balance early. According to LaLiga's official figures, the Madrid club finished the season with 44 goals conceded, significantly more than Barcelona and Real Madrid, but also two fewer than Villarreal, which nevertheless had a stronger attacking output. The difference between third and fourth place in the end was precisely the three points won in this duel. The final image of the season therefore remained clear: Villarreal, in front of its fans, turned a direct clash into a demonstration of efficiency, while Atlético concluded the championship with a result that will be difficult to reduce merely to a bad evening.
Sources:
- Provided source data – basic match and result data used as a starting point.
- LaLiga – official match report Villarreal CF - Atlético de Madrid, result, scorers, stadium, line-ups and statistics (link)
- LaLiga – final LaLiga EA Sports 2025/26 table after the 38th round (link)
- Atlético de Madrid – official post-match overview of the match against Villarreal (link)
- Atlético de Madrid – official announcement about Diego Pablo Simeone's 800th match on the club bench (link)
- Atlético de Madrid – official announcement about Marcos Llorente's 300th appearance for the club (link)