Atlético Madrid is stunned after its biggest defeat in Europe since 2021: “It was really bad”

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Atletico Madrid's 4-0 defeat at Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday was the team's worst loss in Europe in three years, according to UEFA.

Diego Simeone's team lost by the same result to Bayern Munich in the group stage of Europe's top club competition in 2021.

The four-goal defeat against Benfica is Atletico's heaviest aggregate defeat in UEFA club competition. It had previously lost five other times by four goals.

“It was really bad from the start,” said Atlético goalkeeper Jan Oblak. “We didn’t play from start to finish. They did a great job, they have a great team and they deserved to win. They have done much more than us. Unfortunately we lost 4-0 and it could have been more.”

Benfica's victory represented the largest margin of victory by a Portuguese team over a Spanish team in a European Cup or Champions League match. It also claimed the other victory, defeating Real Madrid 5-1 in February 1965.

Muhammed Kerem Akturkoglu opened the scoring in the 13th minute and Ángel Di Maria, Alexander Bah and Orkun Kokcu scored for the Portuguese club in the second half. Di Maria and Kokcu scored penalties.

“They took advantage of every mistake we could have made and the truth is that they deserved to win,” Simeone said.

The unusual loss to Atletico came after a thrilling Spanish league derby against Madrid on Sunday, when Atletico needed an injury-time goal from Ángel Correa to salvage a 1-1 draw at the Metropolitano Stadium.

Atletico, usually known for its strong defense under Simeone, last conceded four goals in a league game against Osasuna in May, when they lost 4-1 at home in their penultimate game of the season.

Atletico opened their Champions League campaign with a 2-1 win against Leipzig at the Metropolitano. After that there was only one win in the next three league games.

The club has to close part of its stadium for three games due to problems with fans Derby against Madridwhen some of his fans threw objects onto the pitch after Madrid scored a goal, prompting the referee to send the players to the locker rooms and halt the game for more than 15 minutes.

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