Atlético de Madrid vs Slovan Bratislava facts

Atlético de Madrid will look to continue their rise up the table in the UEFA Champions League as they take on Slovan Bratislava, who are still without a point in the league phase.

The Spanish side are on nine points having won three of their five matches, losing the other two; Atleti have been victorious in their last two games and were 6-0 winners at Sparta Praha in the most recent.

Slovan are one of three teams to have lost their first five matches, lastly going down 2-3 at home to AC Milan, and have conceded 18 goals – the most of the 36 league phase teams ahead of Matchday 6.

This is the teams' first meeting and Atlético's first game against a Slovakian club – although Slovan have already played in Spain this season, losing 2-0 at debutants Girona on Matchday 3.

Form guide

Atlético de Madrid

Atlético are making their 15th appearance in the Champions League proper and a 12th in succession. They have featured every season since 2013/14.

Runners-up in 2014 and 2016, both against Real Madrid, Diego Simeone's side finished top of their section in 2023/24 and then ousted Inter Milan in the round of 16 (0-1 a, 2-1 h aet, 3-2 pens) before losing to eventual runners-up Borussia Dortmund in the last eight (2-1 h, 2-4 a).

Despite six successive home Champions League wins before losing 1-3 to LOSC Lille on Matchday 3, Atleti have managed only seven victories in their last 18 home European fixtures (D7 L4); they beat Leipzig 2-1 on Matchday 1.

Atleti have progressed to the knockout rounds in nine of their last 11 Champions League campaigns, missing out only in 2017/18 – when they went on to win a third UEFA Europa League and a second under Simeone – and 2022/23, when they finished bottom of their section for the first time.

The Colchoneros were fourth in La Liga in 2023/24, their lowest league finish since 2011/12, when they were fifth.

Slovan Bratislava

Record vs Spanish clubs: W1 D2 L5 F9 A14
Away record vs Spanish clubs: W0 D2 L2

Defeat at Girona in their third league phase fixture was Slovan's third in a row against a Spanish team and made it five losses in their last six (D1).

That was Slovan's first game against a team from Spain since 2011, when they lost 2-1 both home and away to Athletic Club in the UEFA Europa League group stage.

The Slovakian side's most famous European game was their first against a team from Spain, a 3-2 victory against Barcelona in the 1968/69 European Cup Winners' Cup final in Basel.

They have lost five of their subsequent seven games against Spanish teams, drawing the other two – both in Spain, where the defeat at Athletic was their first loss.

This is the first time Slovan have featured in the Champions League proper. Indeed, only three Slovakian clubs appeared in the group stage – Košice (1997/98), Petržalka (2005/06) and Žilina (2010/11).

Although Slovan are in the competition proper for the first time, 2024/25 marked their 12th appearance in Champions League qualifying – and a sixth in succession.

Slovan came through four qualifying rounds to reach the league phase, beating Struga of North Macedonia in the first (4-2 h, 2-1 a), Slovenian side Celje in the second (1-1 a, 5-0 h) and APOEL of Cyprus in the third (2-0 h, 0-0 a). That set up a play-off against Midtjylland, and after a 1-1 first-leg draw in Denmark, Slovan triumphed 3-2 in Bratislava.

In 2023/24, the Slovakian side came through two Champions League rounds before losing to Maccabi Haifa in the third qualifying round (2-5 aggregate) to move into the Europa League qualifying play-offs, losing 7-4 on aggregate against Aris Limassol. That sent them into the Europa Conference League, where they eventually lost to Sturm Graz in the knockout round play-offs (1-4 a, 0-1 h).

Slovan lost four of their eight away European matches in 2023/24, winning the others; they were unbeaten in their four away games in qualifying this season (W1 D3) but have lost at Celtic (1-5) and Girona in the league phase.

The Sky Blues claimed their 30th league title overall in 2023/24, finishing 15 points clear.

Links and trivia

Jan Oblak and Kenan Bajrić play together for Slovenia.

Latest news

Atlético de Madrid

Atleti have won their last nine games in all competitions, keeping five clean sheets, scoring 27 goals and conceding only six.

Three of those goals conceded came on Sunday, when Atlético came from 1-3 down to beat Sevilla 4-3, Antoine Griezmann scoring twice including a 94th-minute winner.

The Frenchman has scored in his last four Atleti appearances, five goals in total.

Atlético have scored 18 goals in their last four matches.

Atleti have the joint-best defensive record in La Liga this season alongside Real Sociedad having conceded 11 goals in 16 games.

On 5 December, they were 3-1 winners at fourth division Cacereño in the Copa del Rey second round.

Julián Alvarez has five goals in Atleti's last six games and is the club's top scorer this season with 11 in all competitions.

The 2-1 home win against Alavés on 23 November was Diego Simeone's 700th game as Atlético coach; he is the first to reach the milestone for a single Spanish club.

Robin Le Normand played 45 minutes at Cacereño, his first appearance since suffering a serious head injury in a 1-1 draw against Real Madrid on 29 September.

José María Giménez sat out the weekend win with an ankle injury.

Thomas Lemar, who was out between 16 September 2023 and 27 October 2024 with a ruptured Achilles tendon, has not played since 31 October due to a muscle injury.

Nahuel Molina had to leave the Argentina camp during November's international break due to hamstring problems and has not played since, although he was on the bench on Sunday.

Slovan

Slovan have won 13 of their 17 league games in 2024/25 (D2 L2) including six of the last eight, but conceded a 95th-minute goal to lose 2-1 at Žilina on Saturday.

Tigran Barseghyan has 14 goals in 17 league appearances and had found the net in Slovan's previous four games in all competitions.

Slovan have lost seven times in 33 games in all competitions this season, but conceded 25 goals in those defeats.

Kevin Wimmer played 90 minutes of a 1-1 draw at Košice on 22 November having been out since going off with a muscle injury in the first half of a 3-2 win at Skalica on 30 October, but has not featured since.

Matúš Vojtko has not played since a 3-1 home win against Banská Bystrica on 1 December due to a shin injury.