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Lee Kang-in dribbles during the 2026-2027 Spanish La Liga match between Sevilla and Atletico Madrid held at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium in Seville, Spain, on the 29th (local time). / Reuters Yonhap

Lee Kang-in, who returned to Spain's Primera Liga, recorded his first assist of the season to lead his team, Atletico Madrid, to a decisive victory.

Lee started the away match against Sevilla held at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan in Seville, Spain, on the 29th (local time) and assisted the opening goal. Delivering a piercing pass deep into the opponent's penalty box, he assisted Alex Baena's goal just four minutes into the first half, laying the groundwork for victory.

With this, Lee recorded his first assist of the season. It marks his second attacking point, following his winning goal against Malaga in the season opener on the 19th. Lee, who returned to his footballing home in Spain through a transfer for this 2026-2027 season, has quickly blended into the squad, tallying one goal and one assist across three league matches. While some had predicted he would need an adjustment period after joining the squad late during pre-season, he appears to need no adaptation at all. Lee, who recorded double-digit attacking points in the league (6 goals, 6 assists) with Mallorca in the 2022-2023 season just before moving to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in France's Ligue 1, is raising expectations for a career-best season that surpasses those figures.

Lee's peak form was evident in the assist sequence that day. Dribbling along the right flank, Lee threaded a clever pass into space momentarily left open by the defense, creating the goal. According to FotMob, Lee touched the ball 44 times until being substituted in the 72nd minute, recording a 94% pass accuracy rate. He also completed three dribbles. While mainly operating on the right wing, Lee demonstrated a wide work rate by occasionally acting as a midfield link and contributing to both forward attacks and defensive tracking. FotMob awarded Lee a rating of 8.0, the fifth highest on the team.

Atletico surged ahead 3-0 in the first half alone with consecutive additional goals from Ademola Lookman in the 26th minute and Baena in the 33rd minute. Although they conceded a goal to Miguel Sierra in the 66th minute, they sealed a comfortable 3-1 victory. Securing their second win of the season and extending their unbeaten league run to three matches (2 wins, 1 draw), Atletico climbed to the top of the league table (7 points) immediately after the match. Lee will aim for back-to-back attacking points in his fourth league match against Athletic Bilbao on September 5.

                                                                                                          Lee Jang-won