Griezmann rises to the occasion for Atletico
Barcelona’s second signing Dembele to be out for four months
Antoine Griezmann ensured Malaga didn’t spoil Atletico Madrid’s moving in party at their new 68,000 Wanda Metropolitano stadium with the only goal in a 1-0 win on Saturday.
The French international, restored to the side after a twogame La Liga ban, swept home Angel Correa’s cross on the hour mark to move Atletico up to third in the table.
Atletico remain four points adrift of Barcelona, though, as Paulinho scored his first Barca goal six minutes from time to continue their 100 per cent record in a 2-1 win at Getafe.
Atletico boss Diego Simeone had called on fans to recreate the intimidating atmosphere of the Vicente Calderon by turning their new home into a “pressure cooker.”
The noise matched the prematch pomp as Spain’s royal air force took part in a flyover, whilst the match ball was delivered by paragliders.
Spanish king Felipe VI, an Atletico fan, was also in attendance, but after all the pre-match fan fare, there wasn’t much for the crowd to get enthused about in the opening 45 minutes.
Correa had Atletico’s only
Saturday’s matches: Spanish La Liga
Levante Getafe Real Betis Atletico Madrid
Serie A
AS Roma Crotone Fiorentina
Monaco Guingamp Troyes Nantes Dijon 1 1 2 1
3 0 2
3 1 0 1 0 Valencia Barcelona Deportivo Malaga
Verona Inter Milan Bologna
, Strasbourg Lille Montpellier Caen Saint-Etienne 1 2 1 0
0 2 1
0 0 1 0 1 two clear chances of the half as he blazed over and straight at Roberto Jimenez.
At the other end Jan Oblak was forced into a fine save from ex-Atletico striker Borja Baston as Malaga broke dangerously.
Atletico started the second period brighter as Roberto denied Koke and Saul Niguez before the deadlock was broken on the hour mark.
Correa burst clear down the right and his low cross was expertly guided inside the near post by Griezmann on his weaker right foot. Malaga had one late chance to rain on Atletico’s parade two minutes from time, but Oblak was again up to the task to turn Diego Rolan’s fierce effort over the bar.
However, Barcelona’s record €105 million signing Ousmane Dembele is set to be sidelined for up to four months as the club confirmed the extent of the hamstring injury he suffered at Getafe on Saturday.
“The tests performed on first team player Ousmane Dembele have determined he has ruptured the tendon of the hamstring in his left leg,” Barcelona said in a statement yesterday.
“The player will undergo surgical treatment by Dr. Sakari Orava this coming week in Finland. The expected time out will be between three-and-ahalf and four months.”
Dembele has made just three appearances for Barca since sealing his move from Borussia Dortmund last month for a fee that could rise to as much as €145 million based on performance-related bonuses.
He provided an assist on his debut as a substitute to round off a 5-0 thrashing of Espanyol last weekend and impressed as Barca swept aside Juventus 3-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday before pulling up just 29 minutes into Saturday’s 2-1 win at Getafe.