Two games, zero returns: Why Atletico's clash vs Espanyol is Lookman's perfect moment to deliver

Two LaLiga matches in, Nigeria's Ademola Lookman is still waiting for his first goal or assist in Spanish football league. This weekend's home fixture against Espanyol is not just another game. For Lookman, it is an opportunity he cannot afford to waste.

Diego Simeone's Atletico are looking to arrest a two-game losing streak in the league and the Super Eagles forward seeking his first domestic contribution since his high-profile move from Atalanta.

The numbers tell two very different stories about Lookman's start to life in Madrid. Three goals and two assists in five appearances is a return that most forwards would consider a blistering beginning.

Except that every single one of those contributions has come in cup competition, across the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League.

In two LaLiga outings, the Nigerian international has yet to register a goal or assist, and that distinction matters in a city where league dominance defines legacies.

Saturday's home fixture offers the ideal conditions for a reset. The familiarity of the Metropolitano crowd, the pressure of a must-respond moment after back-to-back league defeats, and the additional motivation of facing a side that handed Atletico one of their five league losses this season; all of it points toward a fixture built for a statement performance.

Simeone's men will need more than motivation, however. Two consecutive league defeats represent a concerning dip in form for a side with genuine title ambitions, and the coach will demand an immediate response from his attacking players.

Lookman, whose pace, directness and clinical finishing made him one of Serie A's most feared forwards last season, is precisely the kind of player capable of providing it.

Lookman's move to Atletico was one of the most significant transfers involving a Super Eagles player in recent memory, and his adaptation to LaLiga's rhythms, its defensive organisation, its physical intensity, its tactical demands, is being watched closely. Cup goals are welcome. League goals are where reputations are truly built in Spain.

The Metropolitano crowd will be behind him. The fixture is winnable. And Lookman, by every measure of his character and quality, is not a player who stays quiet for long. Saturday feels like the night that changes.