Valencia 0-2 Atletico: Two youngsters score late to seal 3 points for visitors

Atletico Madrid sealed a confident 2-0 win over Valencia at the Mestalla, with academy graduates Iker Luque and Cubo scoring on their debuts.

Match Report 

Keeping Atletico's upcoming Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal in mind, Diego Simeone made wholesale changes, naming a side that did not feature any of the starters from the first leg.

After a cagey start, Nahuel Molina nearly scored a stunner from just in front of the centre circle, drilling a powerful dipping effort past Stole Dimitrievski and straight onto the crossbar.

Valencia struggled to progress the ball into Atletico's final third from there, despite having more possession in what turned into a very stop-start affair.

Rayane Belaid twice failed to find the target after being teed up by Molina, while Jose Gaya sent a header high and wide off Javi Guerra's corner at the other end moments later.

Atletico left it late but eventually broke the deadlock in the 74th minute as 20-year-old Luque lasered a smart effort past Dimitrievski at the near post just 10 minutes after being introduced off the bench.

Fellow substitute 18-year-old Cubo then emphatically sealed the result eight minutes later, neatly collecting Antoine Griezmann's clever throughball before firing low into the near post, with the goal awarded following a VAR review.

Data Debrief: Atletico Madrileno starlets shine on debut 

While it was hardly a secret that Simeone would opt to rest some of his first-teamers ahead of a crucial Champions League clash, even he would not have expected his academy graduates to perform so strongly.

Indeed, Luque and Cubo's goals extended Atletico's scoring run in LaLiga to 10 games – their longest streak since a run of 17 from May to December 2025.

Simeone's side were full value for the win in the end, producing 1.78 expected goals (xG) from their 20 shots (five on target).

Despite producing 1.11 xG of their own from 12 shots, Valencia failed to hit the target for the first time in a LaLiga game since facing Real Madrid in February.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

13' Highlight from Valencia vs Atletico

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16' Match Event for Valencia vs Atletico

18' Highlight from Valencia vs Atletico

34' Match Event for Valencia vs Atletico

36' Match Event for Valencia vs Atletico

39' Highlight from Valencia vs Atletico

48' Match Event for Valencia vs Atletico

60' Highlight from Valencia vs Atletico

64' Highlight from Valencia vs Atletico

74' GOAL! Valencia 0-1 Atletico (Iker Luque)

83' GOAL! Valencia 0-2 Atletico (Miguel Cubo)

Line-ups

Valencia XI: Stole Dimitrievski, Gaya, Saravia, Rioja, G. Rodriguez, Umar, Pepelu, Filip Ugrinic, Ramazani, César Tárrega, Javier Guerra

Subs: Santamaria, Eray Cömert, Núñez, Arnaut Danjuma, Dani Raba, Almeida, Cristian Rivero, Hugo Duro, Jesús Vázquez, Diego López, Rubén Iranzo, Lucas Núñez

Atletico XI: Lenglet, Musso, Le Normand, Molina, Thiago Almada, Javier Boñar, Rayane Belaid, Rodrigo Mendoza, Obed Vargas, Julio Díaz, Javi Morcillo

Subs: Oblak, Griezmann, Koke, Lookman, Álex Baena, Matteo Ruggeri, Johnny Cardoso, Marc Pubill, Dani Martinez, Aleksa Puric, Iker Luque, Miguel Cubo