Make no mistake – Atletico Madrid are La Liga title contenders after they downed a dangerous Sevilla side 3-0 at the Sanchez Pizjuan on Sunday night.
Despite winning the Spanish title 15 months ago, Diego Simeone’s men are rarely afforded even an after-thought in the vast majority of title race predictions, which are overwhelmingly dominated by Barcelona and Real Madrid.
But Atletico once again demonstrated they should be taken deadly seriously as credible title challengers. They rode their luck at times, true, withstanding some intense pressure from the marauding hosts at the start of the second half.
But Atletico’s ability to grind out victories through determination and organisation cannot be doubted, and their prospects for the season look highly promising indeed.
Sevilla, giving a debut to new signing Fernando Llorente, started on the front foot as Coke and Grzegorz Krychowiak forced Jan Oblak into early saves.
Atletico then got into their stride and grabbed the ascendancy, with Tiago and the outstanding Antoine Griezmann both going close.
Sevilla were largely playing long balls in the hope of creating openings for Llorente, but Atletico were controlling the game with classy midfielder Oliver Torres and Griezmann always looking dangerous.
Jackson Martinez Gol. Beauty pic.twitter.com/QRZMZKfYZz
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And Griezmann was inevitably involved when Atletico broke the deadlock, batting hard for a long ball and, despite being on the floor, somehow improvising a pass to Koke who poked a scrappy but precise first-time shot into the net.
Sevilla piled forward after the break, with Atletico’s defence forced into a series of last-ditch challenges and clearances. Coke forced a save from Oblak and Llorente should have grabbed a debut goal but missed his team’s best chance by shooting wide.
Atletico then pounced to make the game safe as captain Gabi unleashed an ambitious long-range strike, which took a wicked deflection off Krychowiak and slid into the bottom left corner.
The scoreline was given an unmerited gloss when with five minutes remaining, Jackson Martinez eased home a perfect 20-yard left-footed strike for his first goal in Atletico colours.
