Atlético Madrid v Málaga

Atlético Madrid finally begin their season on Wednesday 19 August, four days after everyone else. Their matchday one fixture against promoted Málaga was pushed back because of World Cup commitments — one of several rearrangements La Liga permitted for clubs whose players reached the semi-finals in North America. For Málaga it means a first top-flight fixture in years, away, in midweek, against a side that finished fourth.

Neither side has played a league match this season. Atlético finished fourth in 2025/26 on 69 points; Málaga arrive from the Segunda División.

BRYME has not been able to source a head-to-head record for this pairing from an aggregator we trust, so we are not publishing one.

Barcelona won La Liga in 2025/26 with 94 points from 38 games — 31 wins, one draw, six defeats, 95 goals scored. Real Madrid finished second on 86, Villarreal third on 72, Atlético Madrid fourth on 69. Atlético's delayed start is a consequence of the 2026 World Cup: clubs with players in the semi-finals were offered postponements, and Atlético, Real Madrid and Barcelona all took them.

Málaga are the underdog by a distance, and the midweek scheduling does them no favours — a promoted side's first game in the division is hard enough without it being away to a Champions League club on a Wednesday night. Their advantage, such as it is, is unfamiliarity: Atlético have not faced this Málaga team, and early-season Atlético sides have a long history of being difficult to watch before they become difficult to beat.

Atlético should win comfortably. The more interesting question is what a delayed start does to a squad — four days of watching everyone else play can sharpen a team or leave it flat, and there is no way to know which from the outside.

Atlético Madrid 3–0 Málaga