SEATTLE — Facing one of the best teams in the entire world, the Seattle Sounders managed to hold their own but ultimately fell 3-1 to Atlético Madrid on Thursday in front of an announced crowd of 51,636.
Atléti put the Sounders under some intense pressure, especially in the first half, but Seattle still managed to hold their own during long stretches. After Albert Rusnák scored to make it 2-1 early in the second half, there was even a brief hope that they could pull off a result.
Unfortunately, Atléti struck back just five minutes later.
In the end, Atléti showed why they are considered a Top 20 club in the world, and if not for some class saves by Stefan Frei the scoreline could have been even more lopsided than it was.
The loss doesn’t literally eliminate the Sounders from any hope of advancing to the Club World Cup knockout round, but they’d need Botafogo to beat Paris Saint-Germain later today and then to pull off their own unbelievable upset on Monday.
Key moments
10’ - MISS! Julian Alvarez dribbles around a couple of defenders to get an open look from about six yards out but fires wide of the far post.
11’ - Goal. Pablo Barrios takes a feed from Giuliani Simeone at the top of the penalty area and fires his shot off the underside of the crossbar. 1-0, Atlético
16’ - MISS! Alexander Sørloth cuts in front of Reed Baker-Whiting to collect a pass and sets himself up for an open look from about six yards out but shoots quite high.
17’ - Chance! Albert Rusnák sends in a cross that falls to Danny Musovski just in front of goal, but his shot is saved and goes out for a corner.
21’ - Chance! A cross rebounds out to Cristian Roldan about 16 yards out but his shot is blocked.
25’ -SAVE! Sørloth dodges two tackles to get a clean look from top of six but Frei stays big and makes the stop.
38’ - VAR OVERTURNS PENALTY! Baker-Whiting is originally called for a foul at the edge of the penalty area on Giuliani Simeone, but after a review the referee determines that no foul occurred.
45+3’ - WIDE! Baker-Whiting gets a good look from about 23 yards out, but his right-footed attempt is just wide.
46’ - Goal. Axel Witsel heads it in from point-blank range off a feed from Robin Le Normand, who picked up a rebound after Frei saved Marcos Llorente’s shot off the underside of the crossbar. 2-0, Atlético.
50’ - GOAL! Albert Rusnák puts away a feed from Danny Musovski. 2-1, Atlético.
55’ - Goal. Barrios puts away a chance at the back post after Jon Bell’s clearance falls to his feet. 3-1, Atlético.
58 - Chance! A deflected cross falls to Musovski in the box, but he can’t make good contact and his shot is saved.
61’ - Crossbar. Alvarez takes a half volley from about 20 yards out and hits the top corner of the crossbar.
66’ - Chance! Jesús Ferreira finds Alex Roldan on the right side of the penalty box but his shot is blocked.
79’ - Offside goal. Georgi Minoungou breaks into the box and lays it off to Jesús Ferreira, who knocks it into the goal, but he’s offside.
81’ - Chance! The ball falls to Obed Vargas in front of goal but his shot is blocked.
Quick thoughts
Different class: Let the record show that Atlético Madrid is a clearly better team than the Sounders. They generated better chances, they were more opportunistic and they generally looked like a team that is one of the top 15 or 20 in the world. This is a team that has five players who have won the World Cup, almost 20 who have played for their senior national teams, and will likely be one of the final teams standing in this tournament.
Holding their own: With that caveat out of the way, the Sounders never looked completely out of their depth. Even facing one of the top defensive teams in the world, the Sounders were able to build out effectively and generated their fair share of chances. The goal they got was well deserved and with a little better composure they probably could have had another. Given the quality of the opposition, that shouldn’t be overlooked.
World-class atmosphere: There’s been plenty said about the prices and the ticketing policies that have depressed turnout both here and elsewhere, but there were still well over 50,000 at Lumen Field for this one. While there were certainly some Atléti jerseys spotted around, this was a crowd made up almost entirely of Sounders fans. The reality is that there are not very many MLS teams who can pull a crowd like that, even under the best of circumstances.
Notable quote
Brian Schmetzer on how the Sounders’ played:
“The players showed courage today. They were down and were able to come back and still fight, and played brave. … at the end of the day the players played to win.”
— Tim Ostlund-Foss (@timostlundfoss.bsky.social) 2025-06-20T00:26:37.918Z
Player spotlight
Stefan Frei — Atléti scored three goals, but a big reason they didn’t have more was the play of Frei, who came up with four saves and stopped at least one seemingly sure-fire chance. Even on Atléti’s second goal, Frei made a finger-tip save to push the shot off the crossbar and at least give his defense a chance to recover.
