Atlético Madrid’s struggles away from home in La Liga followed them into the new year as they surrendered a second-half lead to settle for a 1-1 draw against Real Sociedad on Sunday.
The result denied Diego Simeone’s side the chance to climb into third place and underlined a worrying trend on the road, with Atlético failing to build on the momentum of their two wins to close out 2025.
Julian Álvarez had an early opportunity to put the visitors in front at the Reale Arena, but he volleyed over from a corner inside six minutes.
The Argentine forward went close again soon after, dragging his effort wide after being picked out neatly by Álex Baena.
Real Sociedad responded with growing confidence, forcing Jan Oblak into action as he pushed away Brais Méndez’s effort, before the Slovenian goalkeeper also denied Carlos Soler shortly before half-time.
Atlético finally made the breakthrough five minutes after the interval when Giuliano Simeone delivered a precise cross to the back post, where Alexander Sørloth rose highest to head home.
The visitors nearly doubled their advantage moments later, but Conor Gallagher squandered a clear chance, firing wide when clean through on goal.
That miss proved costly, as Sociedad struck back just three minutes later. Méndez sparked a swift counter-attack, and Takefusa Kubo’s cross was expertly finished into the top corner by Gonçalo Guedes.
Kubo continued to trouble the Atlético defence and almost punished a late error, though his low effort from the edge of the box was comfortably gathered by Oblak.
At the other end, Antoine Griezmann came close to stealing victory late on, but his attempted chip was safely claimed by Álex Remiro.
The draw further highlighted Atlético’s contrasting home and away form. While only Barcelona have won more home matches in LaLiga this season, Simeone’s men have now collected just three wins from 10 away games (D4 L3).
Statistically, Atlético were perhaps fortunate to leave with a point, generating an expected goals (xG) figure of 1.23 from 10 attempts, compared to Sociedad’s 1.79 from 18 shots.
Kubo was the standout performer for the hosts, registering an assist to go with his recent goal against Levante.
The Japan international has now either scored or assisted in consecutive league matches for the first time since September 2023, while also leading the match for chances created, successful dribbles and duels won.
