Atletico gain sweet revenge

ATLETICO MADRID avenged their Borussia Dortmund drubbing from a fortnight ago and revived hopes of going through top of Champions League Group A by beating the German side 2-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano yesterday.

Dortmund handed Atletico their heaviest defeat under Diego Simeone with a 4-0 victory 13 days ago but this contest was almost a mirror image, the hosts in control from start to finish.

Saul Niguez and Antoine Griezmann scored a goal in each half to complete a win that puts Atleti five points clear of third-place Club Brugge with two games to play, and on the brink of the Champions League knockout stage.

First place is also back in sight, with Atletico and Dortmund each on nine points, even if Simeone’s side have the slightly tougher task of playing Brugge away in their final fixture.

“We wanted to get one back on them after the first game,” Saul said.

“It was tough to take and it might have gone the other way two weeks ago. Tonight was a bit of revenge for us.”

After losing in Germany, Atleti were also held at struggling Leganes in La Liga on Saturday and this result, without the injured Diego Costa, Diego Godin and Koke, will do wonders for morale.

“The team responded,” Simeone said. “We played as a team and when everyone buys into that, you have your identity. You can feel what you do together and today the boys showed that.”

Dortmund, who sit top of the Bundesliga, host Bayern Munich on Saturday and they lacked the same verve they showed two weeks ago.

“They dominated us today,” Dortmund coach Lucien Favre said, before brushing off the suggestion this could hang over them against Bayern. “It’s just a defeat. It can happen.” – AFP