A game that was slow to start burst into life just before the quarter-hour mark with Marcos Llorente almost turning provider twice in quick succession with crosses from the right.
The first was met by the head of Samuel Lino but was tipped over by debutant Villarreal keeper Diego Conde. The second was turned home by Reinildo Mandava but he was rightly flagged for offside.
The hosts had offered very little up to this point but made Atleti pay on 18 minutes thanks to a man who has spent the past year and a half on loan in the Premier League. Arnaut Danjuma outpaced Axel Witsel to a long ball and finished well from a narrow angle to open the scoring.
The Dutchman had barely finished celebrating his first league goal in yellow since October 2022 when Llorente took matters into his own hands after good link-up with Antoine Griezmann from the restart and finished himself this time with a vicious finish from an angle into the roof of the net.
The game was crackling into life and Lino came close again, this time from a Koke delivery on 35 minutes that he slid against the post and his side would be punished almost immediately yet again.
The Yellow Submarine broke and, from a corner that Danjuma won, the usually-unflappable Jan Oblak misjudged Álex Baena’s cross and there was nothing Koke could do as the ball struck him and rolled in for an own goal.
Villarreal know all too well what Alexander Sørloth is capable of and they kept him quiet for much of the half on his immediate return to the Estadio de la Cerámica.
However, with the last play of the first period, he powered home a trademark header from Pablo Barrios’ delivery to send the sides in level at the end of a pulsating 45.
Diego Simeone opted for changes at the break but despite this, it was the hosts who had the first chance of the second half with Baena’s free-kick rippling the side netting on the hour mark.
New signing Julián Álvarez made his debut in red and white on 78 minutes, while Ayoze Pérez arrived shortly after for his Villarreal bow.
However, neither could impact proceedings and it was another debutant in ex-Arsenal man Nicolas Pépé who came closest to a winner as his free-kick on 82 minutes drifted all the way off the angle of post and bar. In the end, it was honours even after a thoroughly entertaining affair.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marcos Llorente (Atlético Madrid)
