Nigeria’s Super Eagles striker, Ademola Lookman, has earned praise from Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone following his positive contribution in the 2-1 win over Real Madrid at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Sunday evening.
The former Everton star featured for the final 23 minutes against Los Blancos, coming off the bench to replace Álex Baena.
Atletico Madrid secured a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid in the first Madrid derby of the La Liga season, with Alejandro Grimaldo and Jonathan David finding the net in the 53rd and 59th minutes, respectively, before Antonio Rüdiger pulled one back in the 89th minute.
Lookman looked dangerous after his introduction, showing plenty of promise in attack and adding energy to Atletico’s forward play, although he was unable to get his name on the score sheet.
Simeone was pleased with the collective effort from his players and highlighted the contributions of those who came off the bench, including Lookman.
Fichajes quoted Simeone as saying, “I feel proud.” We had talked about teamwork. Not just the ten who started, we needed Koke’s talent and a bit more freshness from Julián for Lookman to come on and perform better than he did…
But I have no doubt that the team’s collective effort was a consequence of the kind of game we wanted to play.
Lookman has scored once in the 2026-27 La Liga campaign, with his only goal coming against Sevilla on matchday three.
The former African Footballer of the Year has been included in the Super Eagles squad for their upcoming Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau.
Packaged by Lanre Olabisi
