Atlético (AT) Madrid, burdened by a red card setback, managed a hard-fought 1-1 draw away to Stuttgart (Germany). Lee Kang-in, 25 years old, missed his first match in 12 since his transfer, watching from the sidelines as the team secured the draw.
AT Madrid drew 1-1 in the third match of the 2026-2027 UEFA Champions League (UCL) league phase against Stuttgart at the MHP Arena in Germany on October 21 (Korean time).
With this result, AT Madrid recorded 1 win, 1 draw, and 1 loss in the UCL this season, placing 15th out of 36 teams. Their official match winning streak ended at six consecutive victories. Stuttgart, with 2 wins and 1 draw in the UCL, rose to third place, continuing their upward momentum.
Lee Kang-in started the first two UCL matches but was on the bench this time. Trailing 0-1 at halftime after Jamie Levelling’s opening goal, AT Madrid introduced Ademola Lookman to shake up their attack.
The score was leveled in the 2nd minute of the second half by Julián Álvarez’s left-footed shot. It was Álvarez’s first goal of the season after facing backlash during his attempted transfer to FC Barcelona last summer.
AT Madrid appeared to gain momentum, but an unexpected setback occurred. Midfielder Morten Hjulmand received a direct red card for a rough tackle in the 19th minute of the second half. Forced into a numerical disadvantage, the team shifted to a defensive approach, making it difficult to deploy attacking players like Lee Kang-in. Ultimately, AT Madrid had to settle for a draw as they struggled to repel Stuttgart’s late pressure.
Local media, including *Cadena SER*, reported post-match that Lee Kang-in was absent due to a minor thigh injury. Lee had played in all of AT Madrid’s matches this season—9 league games and 2 UCL matches—before his first absence in 12 games.
Meanwhile, Barcelona’s unbeaten run since the season opener was halted after a 2-4 loss to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in their UCL league phase third match in Paris, France.
Barcelona had gone 11 official matches without defeat, including 9 straight league wins and 2 UCL victories, but fell to the UCL defending champions, PSG. PSG extended their league phase winning streak to three and took sole lead.
PSG took a 1-0 halftime lead with Desire Doue’s opening goal. The second half saw a see-saw battle, with the score leveling at 2-2. However, PSG’s Bittencourt added a mid-range goal in the 36th minute, followed by Fabián Ruiz’s clincher, securing a two-goal victory.
FC Porto (Portugal), with Hwang In-beom coming on as a substitute, lost 0-1 to PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) at home. Porto slumped to a third consecutive UCL league phase defeat.
Hwang In-beom was introduced immediately after his team conceded in the 12th minute of the second half, recording one shot and one chance created, but could not prevent the loss.
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