Ahead of their La Liga fixture against Oviedo, Atletico Madrid’s players were seen training barefoot at the Ciudad Deportiva Wanda Atlético de Madrid, the training facility for the men’s senior team.
What has been perceived as risky and potentially injury-causing by the fans, has a much deeper meaning than it seems. The process is referred to as ‘Earthing’, a process which connects one’s body directly to the Earth’s electrical field.
⚠️🇪🇸 Atlético Madrid players took part in training today BAREFOOT following yesterday's match. 🦶
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) November 27, 2025
It's a REGENERATIVE MEASURE to help the feet heal and to take advantage of the properties of the sun and nature. ‼️ pic.twitter.com/ROjdfkUsQY
When the bare skin connects with the surface directly, the naturally negatively charged electrons flow into our body and neutralize the positively charged protons resulting in a balanced electrical activity in our body which leads to reduced blood viscosity and inflammation.
When our feet directly touch the soil, they lead to extra activation of the extensors and flexors in our toe, which reduces the chance of injury in the feet and puts less strain on the joints resulting in an improved posture.
This is certainly a new approach taken by manager Diego Simeone who himself is very renowned for his various defensive and orthodox tactics, visibly seen in Atletico Madrid for the past decade.
Fans online have joked that midfielder Marcos Llorente is possibly the person who suggested this idea to the club, given his nature-favoured opinions on recovery and his use of specially designed pair of red and yellow tinted glasses to help protect his eyes from artificial lighting.
While many fans were appreciative of this approach to help in recovery, many argued about its credibility, calling it nothing more than pseudoscience.
Regardless of fans’ belief in these recovery methods, it’s visible that the players were happy while strolling under the sun on grass without their boots on, something that is much needed after a tough game in the UEFA Champions League, where the Colchoneros hosted the reigning finalists from last season, Inter Milan at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid, Spain.
World Cup winner Julian Alvarez opened the scoring for Simeone’s team early in the first half before Polish international Piotr Zielinski equalised for the Italian visitors in the second-half. Towards the end, both teams were ready to settle for a point each, before an outswinging corner from Antoine Griezmann found Jose Gimenez who put a thumping header past Yann Sommer, to give his team all 3 points as they ended Inter Milan’s undefeated record in this season’s Champions League.
Atletico will need all the natural regeneration they can get as Simeone’s men travel to the newly renovated Spotify Camp Nou next week to face Hansi Flick’s Barcelona who will look to make improvements in their season after a crushing loss to Chelsea in the Champions League.
