With Bayern Munich suffering a shock 3-2 defeat against Rostov
earlier in the afternoon, Atletico Madrid knew they could secure first
place in Group D against PSV Eindhoven and they duly did so, with second
half strikes from Kevin Gameiro and Antoine Griezmann earning a 2-0
win. Having suffered an ugly 3-0 loss in last weekend's Madrid derby,
Diego Simeone made some adjustments to his lineup, as Jose Maria
Gimenez came in at centre-back for the unconvincing Stefan Savic, while
Sime Vrsaljko took Juanfran's right-back spot for the second consecutive
Champions League game. There were also changes in midfield, with
Koke shifted out to the left flank, with Yannick Carrasco unleashed on
the right and with Gabi partnered by his long-time central midfield
sidekick Tiago Mendes. The new-look Atletico clicked straight away, with a number of chances falling to Los Rojiblancos in the opening ten minutes. Carrasco
whipped in an excellent ball from his new flank in the seventh minute,
but Gameiro fired wide from just a couple of yards out, much to the
disbelief of the raucous home crowd. Griezmann saw an effort from
the edge of the area trickle past the post a minute later, before Diego
Godin had a header saved by Jeroen Zoet at an Atleti free-kick. Koke
was next to knock on the door before the Dutch side responded with a
lightning counter attack, only for Gaston Pereiro to tamely shoot into
Jan Oblak's hands under pressure from the chasing Griezmann.
Davy
Propper also threatened for the visitors, but his curled effort in the
33rd minute whistled past the wrong side of the post. That was the
last real sight of goal for either team in the first half, but Atletico
started the second period just as brightly as they had the first, with
Gameiro and Koke both probing in the first couple of minutes. Gimenez
then nodded another ball towards Gameiro at a corner, but it was the
Frenchman who ended up in the back of the net, while the ball missed his
diving head and bounced wide. It was proving to be a frustrating
night for the centre-forward, but his perseverance was rewarded in the
55th minute when Griezmann sent him through on goal and with Zoet unable
to extend his fingernails enough to divert the summer recruit's low
angled finish. Ten minutes later Griezmann grabbed a goal of his
own, finishing smartly when released by the excellent Tiago to equal
Luis Aragones' club-record 12 Champions League goals. It was
comfortable for Los Colchoneros from that point onwards and Gameiro even
came close to scoring another when his header smudged the crossbar. Yet it would finish 2-0, enabling Los Rojiblancos to travel to Munich on matchday six already certain of the top spot.
Match Sheet:
2
- Atletico Madrid: Oblak; Vrsaljko, Godin, Gimenez, Filipe Luis
(Juanfran, 76); Carrasco, Gabi, Tiago (Saul Niguez, 76), Koke;
Griezmann, Gameiro.
0 - PSV Eindhoven: Zoet; Arias, Schwaab,
Isimat, Moreno, Willems (De Wijs, 46); Propper (Lundqvist, 84),
Ramselaar, Zinchenko; Pereiro, Bergwijn (Narsingh, 61).
Goals: 1-0 (min 55, Gameiro), 2-0 (min 66, Griezmann)
Referee: Aliaksei Kulbakov (Belarus)
Stadium: Estadio Vicente Calderon
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