Álex Baena is still struggling to shine as Atlético’s season narrows

MADRID — When Álex Baena slipped on the fabled No. 10 shirt last July, the €42 million move from Villarreal was hailed as the statement signing of Atlético de Madrid’s summer. Six months later, the Spain international has become the latest creative talent to discover that the iconic jersey can feel more like a straitjacket than a coronation.

Baena, 23, arrived with a reputation for invention: 21 “big chances” created for Villarreal in 2023-24 and a league-leading 3.1 key passes per 90 minutes. Yet his maiden campaign in red and white has produced only two goals and one assist in 16 LaLiga appearances, and zero goal involvements across 11 cup outings. He has completed 90 minutes only once and spent 54 days sidelined by three separate injuries.

The drop-off is stark. Key passes have fallen to 1.4 per 90, while big chances crafted have plummeted to six. Increasingly, Diego Simeone withdraws the left-sided midfielder before the hour mark, most recently in January’s Copa del Rey round-of-32 exit to Deportivo La Coruña.

Atlético’s structure has not mirrored Villarreal’s protective shell. At El Madrigal, ball-winners Santi Comesaña and Dani Parejo allowed Baena the freedom to misplace 11 passes a game without consequence. At the Metropolitano, intended destroyer Johnny Cardoso has missed two-thirds of the season through injury, and captain Koke—outstanding in his own right—operates in a deeper, more positional role. The result is a creator isolated on the flank, starved of the quick combinations that once defined his game.

The club’s public stance remains patient—Baena’s contract runs to 2030—but history counsels caution. Mateja Kežman and Óliver Torres both buckled under the symbolic weight of the No. 10, while predecessors Paulo Futre, Sergio Agüero and Arda Turan thrived. Ángel Correa, who vacated the shirt last summer, embodied its modern standard: versatility, resilience and end-product.

With Atlético’s title hopes narrowing and European qualification on a knife-edge, the clock is ticking for Baena to prove he belongs in the first category rather than the second. For now, the flashes of brilliance remain just that—fleeting glimpses of a talent still searching for its stage.