Atlético Madrid's Lee Kang-in, left, in action with Villarreal's Carlos Romero in a La Liga match at Riyadh Air Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid on Aug. 23.REUTERS/YONHAP
Lee Kang-in made his first La Liga start for Atlético Madrid on Sunday, but couldn't stop his new club from blowing a lead and needing a late equalizer to salvage a 2-2 draw against Villarreal.
Lee started Atlético's Round 2 match of the 2026-27 season at Riyadh Air Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid, playing 67 minutes before coming off.
Atlético took the lead through Marc Pubill in the 59th minute but conceded goals from penalties in the 66th and 78th minutes. Giuliano Simeone equalized in the 85th minute to salvage a 2-2 draw, leaving Atlético on four points with one win and one draw.
It marked a shift in fortunes from Lee's debut for the club, when he came off the bench to score in the season opener against Málaga on Wednesday.
In his first league start, Lee was able to get off six shots, but none found the back of the net.
Lining up against Villarreal, which finished third in La Liga last season, Lee partnered with Ademola Lookman, moving between the left flank and central midfield.
A promotional poster for Atlético Madrid’s match against Villarreal festures Lee Kang-inATLÉTICO MADRID
Lee sent shots well wide in the 35th and 42nd minutes. In the first minute of first-half stoppage time, he beat a defender before firing a right-footed shot that was blocked. Lee attempted four shots in the first half alone but failed to register one on target and appeared somewhat tense.
He moved to the right flank after Álex Baena came on at the start of the second half. Eight minutes after the restart, Lee dribbled in from the right edge of the penalty area and ripped a left-footer with three defenders in front of him. The move resembled the one that led to his debut goal, but the ball deflected off Juan Foyth’s head and went out.
Pubill opened the scoring for Atlético in the 59th minute with a curling left-footed shot from near the right side of the penalty arc.
Five minutes later, Atlético’s Morten Hjulmand grabbed an opponent inside the penalty area, conceding a penalty. Gerard Moreno converted the spot kick to make it 1-1.
Lee was substituted in the 67th minute. Julián Álvarez, whose attempted move to Barcelona had recently caused controversy, came on to boos from the home crowd.
Atlético defender Robin Le Normand then pushed an opponent to the ground with his hand in the 76th minute. Following an on-field review, he was shown a straight red card, and Villarreal was awarded another penalty. Georges Mikautadze converted to put Villarreal ahead.
Despite being down to 10 men, Atlético fought back. Giuliano Simeone ran onto a through ball from Baena and sent a right-footed shot into the net to make it 2-2, rescuing a point for the side managed by his father, Diego Simeone.
Football statistics site FotMob gave Lee a rating of 7.3, with six shots and 25 of his 31 passes complete for an 81 percent passing accuracy.
Meanwhile, viewers trying to watch Lee’s first start on Coupang Play experienced difficulties accessing the livestream, apparently due to heavy traffic. The Coupang Play Sports Pass costs 19,300 won ($14) a month for regular members and 12,400 won for Coupang Wow members.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
