Atletico's season falling apart after consecutive losses to Real Madrid and Barcelona

MADRID (AP) — In just a matter of days, one of Atletico Madrid’s most promising seasons turned into great disappointment.

Playing well and with confidence, Atletico looked poised for a deep run in the Champions League, and was holding steady at the top of the Spanish league, in position to fight for both titles.

Then came a pair of setbacks, both at home and in heart-breaking fashion. First it was a penalty shootout loss to Real Madrid in the round of 16 in the Champions League last Wednesday, and four days later a 4-2 defeat against Barcelona in the Spanish league after Diego Simeone's team had led 2-0 midway through the second half.

Simeone was left searching for answers for the team's sudden struggles, and looking for ways to put it back on track for what is left of the season.

“What can we do?” the head coach said. “On Wednesday we get back to training, with the same motivation as always, with the same spirit, and accepting that it is what it is.”

Simeone wasn't giving up yet on the title race in the Spanish league, but Sunday's loss meant that Atletico fell four points behind both Madrid — which won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday — and league leader Barcelona, which has a game in hand and can potentially increase its gap to Atletico to seven points.

“Barcelona has an important advantage,” Simeone said. “We have to be realistic, but we will keep going match by match until the end.”

Atletico looked in control against Barcelona at the Metropolitano Stadium. But Barcelona was able to equalize with goals six minutes apart in the 72nd and 78th minutes, and got the victory with a pair of goals in stoppage time.

Against Madrid in the Champions League, Atletico looked in position to finally end its long slump against its city rival in the competition, but it couldn't come through a penalty shootout despite playing better during most parts of the tie.

In the shootout, a rare double touch by Atletico forward Julián Álvarez while taking his penalty led to yet another elimination.

Simeone didn't want to blame his team's defeats to bad luck, though he acknowledged that it played a part. He also noted his side needed to be more assertive at key points in matches, especially when it was playing better and could have sealed victory.

Against Barcelona, Simeone took some blame by saying that he should have made a change quicker than he did, adding defender José María Giménez sooner into the game.

“When we went up 2-0, I should have added Giménez earlier, before they restarted the match,” Simeone said. “But they restarted and scored the first goal, and then came the second.”

Simeone defended his players, saying they "have given it all, they have always competed and the fans have recognized that.”

Atletico visits Espanyol after the international break before hosting Barcelona again in the second leg of the semifinals of the Copa del Rey, a competition Atletico hasn't won since 2013, not long after Simeone took over.

The teams drew 4-4 in Barcelona in the first match last month, when Atletico was losing 4-2 until the 84th. Madrid and Real Sociedad are in the other semifinal, with Madrid having won 1-0 away in the first leg.

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Atletico Madrid's head coach Diego Simeone sits on the bench prior to a La Liga soccer match between Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona at the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Atletico Madrid's head coach Diego Simeone sits on the bench prior to a La Liga soccer match between Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona at the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Barcelona's Pau Cubarsi, left, challenges Atletico Madrid's Alexander Sorloth during a La Liga soccer match between Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona at the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Atletico Madrid's Rodrigo Riquelme, bottom, falls on the pitch challenged by Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski during a La Liga soccer match between Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona at the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Atletico Madrid's goalkeeper Jan Oblak, left, dives but fails to save the goal from Barcelona's Ferran Torres during a La Liga soccer match between Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona at the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)