forlán started the 2009–10 season slowly, and struggled for form as atlético made their worst start to a league season since their relegation in 2000. on 24 october 2009, forlán scored a penalty and missed another as atlético were held to a 1–1 draw at home against mallorca, who had played the majority of the second half with just nine players on the field. the disappointing result and performance led to protests from atlético supporters, as well as criticism for forlán, who was subsequently left out of the squad for the next game. atlético started to improve after the arrival new manager quique sánchez flores, and once again, forlán flourished in the second half of the season, as atlético reached the finals of both the europa league and copa del rey. on 14 february 2010, forlán scored the first goal as atlético beat barcelona 2–1 at the vicente calderón, inflicting the eventual champions only league defeat of the season. on 22 april 2010, forlán scored the only goal of the game in atlético's europa league semi-final first leg at home to liverpool. a week later, liverpool took the tie to extra time before taking a 2–1 aggregate lead. forlán then scored again to make it 2–2 on aggregate, giving atlético the away goal they needed to reach the final, in which they played against fulham at volksparkstadion, hamburg, on 12 may.