Mallorca 1-1 Atletico Madrid: Vedat Muriqi’s Late Strike Cancels Gallagher’s Effort For 10-Man Diego Simeone Side

Atletico Madrid's underwhelming start to their 2025-26 LaLiga campaign continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw in a game that saw substitute Alexander Sorloth sent off. 

Sorloth received his red card just 10 minutes after being introduced into the action, with Mallorca making their man advantage count through Vedat Muriqi's late strike. 

Atletico's strong start at Estadi Mallorca Son Moix saw them awarded a penalty in the 14th minute when Mallorca captain Antonio Raillo handled in the box. 

Julian Alvarez assumed responsibility for the spot-kick, but could not give Atletico the lead as his effort was brilliantly saved by Leo Roman down to his left. 

Atletico's chances of victory took a hit midway through the second half when Sorloth, who had replaced Alvarez just after the hour, was sent off for a high challenge on Raillo. 

However, Diego Simeone's side took the lead with 11 minutes of normal time left when Marcos Llorente's shot was parried into the path of Conor Gallagher, who picked out the bottom-right corner. 

It was a backs-to-the-wall display from there, but Atletico's defence was eventually breached five minutes from time when Muriqi powerfully headed Jan Virgili's cross home. 

Data Debrief: In-form Muriqi piles pressure on Simeone

After conceding late on in their Champions League opener against Liverpool, Atletico were looking to try and implement some of the positives from that display here. 

But they were left to rue a number of missed opportunities, having generated 2.17 expected goals (xG) from their 12 shots, seven of which were on target, compared to Mallorca's 0.59 from their eight attempts. 

It is a result that leaves Atletico down in 12th in LaLiga, already nine points behind leaders Real Madrid, while Mallorca picked up just their second point of the campaign thanks to their in-form striker. 

Indeed, Muriqi has now scored in his last three LaLiga matches (four goals in total), doing so for just the third time in his career in the top flight, and the first since September 2023, when he scored in four games in a row.