Atletico Madrid vs Girona preview, prediction, h2h: Ademola Lookman to end maiden La Liga campaign on a high

Atletico Madrid offer their supporters a chance to end the home campaign on a high when they welcome Girona to the Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Sunday, May 17, 2026.

Super Eagles forward Ademola Lookman is fit and expected to start. At the same time, the game is also the penultimate home appearance of Antoine Griezmann, who will leave the club for Orlando City this summer.

Girona arrive in 15th place with 40 points from 36 matches, their survival in La Liga still not secure, and the trip to the Metropolitano is a must-win for Michel Angel’s men.

Atletico’s season of near misses

Diego Simeone came into the 2025/2026 season with a rebuilt squad designed to compete for major honours across multiple fronts, adding David Hancko, Alex Baena, Johnny Cardoso, Thiago Almada and, in January 2026, Ademola Lookman in a winter window that reinforced the sense of a club ready to take the final step.

The final step has proved elusive in every direction.

The Copa del Rey final on April 18 against Real Sociedad ended in a 2-2 draw after extra time before a penalty shootout defeat, with Lookman scoring the goal that levelled the match before being substituted due to adductor discomfort that would shape the final weeks of his debut season.

The Champions League semi-final against Arsenal produced a tense 1-1 first leg at the Metropolitano, with Lookman starting and registering four shots, before Arsenal’s 1-0 win in London eliminated Atletico 2-1 on aggregate.

In La Liga, fourth place is secure, and Champions League football for 2026-27 is confirmed. Still, the gap to third-placed Villarreal has proved insurmountable, and Atletico’s record of 20 wins, six draws and 10 defeats across the season tells the story of a campaign that promised rather more than it delivered.

Sunday carries significant personal weight in the form of Griezmann, who has seven La Liga goals this season and will play one of his last two home matches for Atletico before his summer departure.

The Frenchman’s two spells at the Metropolitano have produced some of the most memorable goals in the club’s modern history, and the opportunity to mark his final appearances in front of the home crowd with victories is one that Simeone will frame clearly in the dressing room.

Girona’s tumultuous season

Michel’s side finished third in La Liga in 2023-24, qualified for the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history and established themselves as one of the most progressive projects in European football.

This season has been a return to the reality of finite resources and squad depth that was always likely to follow such an extraordinary campaign.

Sitting 15th with 40 points from 36 games, Girona’s survival is still on the line, and their relegation fight is a genuine concern.

An injury list that has included Marc-André ter Stegen, Donny van de Beek, Abel Ruiz and Portu at various stages has made an already demanding task considerably harder, and Michel has frequently had to reshape his attacking intentions around availability rather than preference.

Atletico Madrid vs Girona: Head-to-Head Record

Atletico’s record against Girona in La Liga is among the most one-sided in the current era of the competition.

Across 13 meetings in all competitions, Atletico hold seven wins to Girona’s one, with five draws, and the Catalan club’s solitary victory, a dramatic 4-3 comeback at home in January 2024, remains the sole exception to a pattern of Atletico control.

Since that result, Atletico have beaten Girona in three consecutive La Liga encounters without conceding a goal.

Team News

Atletico Madrid

Simeone faces a lengthy injury and suspension list for Sunday’s fixture, though the most welcome piece of news is Lookman’s confirmed availability.

Pablo Barrios has been ruled out for weeks with a muscular problem, while José Giménez, who might have played his final match for the club after sustaining an ankle injury against Celta Vigo, is absent.

Nahuel Molina suffered a small hamstring tear in the Celta defeat and will not feature again this season.

Julián Álvarez has been managing an ankle injury sustained in the Champions League semi-finals and is unavailable.

Johnny Cardoso is sidelined with an ankle injury, while Rodrigo Mendoza was forced off in the 18th minute at Osasuna with a muscle strain and is doubtful. Marcos Llorente received a second yellow card at Osasuna in the 79th minute and is suspended.

Predicted Atletico Madrid XI (4-2-3-1): Musso; Pubill, Le Normand, Lenglet, Ruggeri; Vargas, Koke; Baena, Griezmann, Lookman; Sorloth.

Girona

Michel is without six players for Sunday’s trip to the Metropolitano.

Marc-André ter Stegen, Donny van de Beek, Abel Ruiz, Portu, Vladyslav Vanat and Juan Carlos all remain unavailable through injury.

Paulo Gazzaniga starts in goal and has been one of Girona’s most consistent performers across a difficult season, with 33 La Liga appearances and a series of crucial interventions having kept the club out of the relegation conversation in their more difficult spells.

Predicted Girona XI (4-3-3): Gazzaniga; Martinez, Frances, Reis, Moreno; Witsel, Ouahi, Ivan Martin; Bryan Gil, Roca, Tsigankov.

What Sunday means for Super Eagles’ Lookman

Ademola Lookman’s arrival at Atletico Madrid in January 2026 was one of the most significant transfers involving a Nigerian player in recent memory.

The 28-year-old departed Atalanta after helping them win the Europa League in May 2024, scoring all three goals in the final against Bayer Leverkusen, and the expectation at the Metropolitano was that this level of big-game impact would immediately elevate Simeone’s attack.

Eight goals and four assists across all competitions in approximately 21 appearances tell the story of a player who has contributed meaningfully without yet producing the sustained dominance that his talent suggests he is capable of.

Three La Liga goals from 10 appearances reflect the reality that Simeone has managed Lookman’s minutes carefully throughout his debut season, with the Nigerian starting only ten league games and never completing a full 90 minutes during the entire campaign.

The moments of genuine quality, however, have been there.

His goal against Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-final was described as a decisive contribution in a 3-2 aggregate win that sent Atletico into the semi-finals for the first time in years.

His Copa del Rey final strike, levelling against Real Sociedad before the eventual shootout defeat, provided another example of the Super Eagles forward rising to the occasion when the stakes were highest.

“His arrival has had a very positive impact on the team,” Simeone said during the Champions League build-up. “He brings something special offensively. He’s working much harder on his defensive duties.”

Sunday is a chance for Lookman to produce one final impression at the Metropolitano before a summer in which his role at the club will be re-evaluated, and in which the Super Eagles manager, Eric Chelle, will be watching closely ahead of Nigeria’s international friendlies against Poland and Portugal in June.

The Managers: Simeone’s Legacy and Michel’s Rebuilding Project

Diego Simeone has managed Atletico Madrid since December 2011 and remains the most decorated figure in the club’s modern history, having won two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey trophies, two Europa Leagues and twice led the club to the Champions League final.

This season will be remembered primarily for the trophies that fell just short.

The Copa del Rey final defeat and the Champions League semi-final exit to Arsenal represent the latest chapter in a pattern of near misses that has defined the latter part of Simeone’s Atletico tenure.

He has spoken in recent weeks about the challenge of motivating a squad through the final weeks of a campaign that has lost its primary competitive purpose, and Sunday will require all of his considerable man-management skills to produce a focused, professional performance from a group carrying physical fatigue and the weight of what might have been.

The farewell dimension of Griezmann’s departure is the motivational lever that Simeone will pull most effectively.

A home win in the Frenchman’s penultimate Metropolitano appearance would provide the kind of emotional conclusion that a club of Atletico’s history is capable of manufacturing.

Michel, the Girona manager, has navigated one of the most demanding seasons in the club’s recent history with considerable dignity.

The Spanish coach oversaw the extraordinary 2023-24 campaign and has refused to allow the inevitable post-historic-season regression to undermine his tactical clarity or his squad’s collective spirit.

His 40-point total and 15th-place finish represent a solid platform for a summer rebuild, and Sunday’s trip to the Metropolitano is the final away assignment of a campaign that has tested everything Michel has to offer as a manager.

Tactical Preview: Atletico’s massive attack against Girona’s Structure

Simeone will deploy his 4-2-3-1, with Baena’s return from suspension restoring a level of attacking width and creativity that was unavailable at Osasuna, given the volume of injuries.

Lookman is expected to operate from the left of the attacking three, cutting inside on his stronger right foot and looking to drive at Alejandro Frances.

Baena provides a similar threat from the right, and Griezmann’s positioning in the pocket between the lines offers Sorloth a level of creative service that the Norwegian thrives on.

The challenge for Koke and Vargas as the double pivot is maintaining the defensive structure when Atletico transition forward, because Girona’s most realistic route to a goal runs through Tsygankov’s ability to receive the ball in space on the right flank and drive at the home side’s left side.

Girona will aim to stay compact and organised for as long as possible, denying Atletico the space between the lines that Lookman and Griezmann prefer to operate in, and looking to absorb pressure before releasing Tsygankov and Bryan Gil in transition.