By our reporter 12.10.2026
These are not the best of time for striker Ademola Lookman, but his coach Diego Simeone is keeping the faith and has told the player what to do to regain fitness.
Lookman started his sojourn at Atletico Madrid with a bang last January, but this season he seems to be a shadow of himself for club and country.
Speaking ahead of their Champions League match against Manchester United Simeone said:
“Every player goes through their own phases. Obviously, I don’t think there’s a player who can maintain a level of ten all the time.
“There’s always a dip, and it’s clear that Ademola Lookman is going through a phase where he’s not performing as he’d like to and as we’d like to see him, because he’s shown us what he’s capable of, but he works every day to become that player, the dribbler.”
He said Atletico will do all it takes to pick up points from Manchester United having lost their first UCL game to Liverpool.
“We know the difficulties of this competition. This format means you have to try to pick up points, whether at home or away, in the first match or the last. And, obviously, we need points, just as every team that wants to stay in this competition does.”