'I believe in him' — Simeone has faith in Lookman but 2 goals in 14 games is not enough

The Atleti boss has emphasised his unwavering confidence in Lookman despite the Nigerian's obvious struggles in front of goal.

“I have a lot of faith in him,” Simeone said.

“I don’t want him to get frustrated because he’s not going through his best moment, because it’s part of life, part of the game, part of football.”

The Argentine pointed to Julián Álvarez and Antoine Griezmann as examples of players who endured similar dry spells before rediscovering their best form, stressing that Lookman’s ability to win one-on-one duels in the final third remains valuable.

The numbers tell a different story. Lookman has managed just two goals in 14 appearances across all competitions.

This includes just one goal in 11 matches, scored against Sevilla in late August. Subsequently, his time as an undisputed starter seems to be fading away, and he was restricted to a 14-minute cameo in Saturday’s 2-0 win at Levante.

When Lookman arrived from Atalanta in the winter window last season, he immediately looked like the creative spark Atlético lacked, finishing with nine goals and four assists in 24 games.

The expectation for this campaign was that he would take the team’s attack to another level, but the reality has been far different, trending in the opposite direction.

The opportunity for Lookman to thrive was there at the start of the season.

Álvarez’s early-season distraction, publicly pushing to join Barcelona, was the catalyst for Lookman to force Simeone to hand him the keys to the attack by producing inspired performances week after week, but that failed to materialise.

It is clear that he needs to contribute more in terms of numbers, and this week's game against Bayern offers another chance to change the narrative.