Atletico Mann up for Juve
ANTOINE GRIEZMANN’S deflected volley earned Atletico Madrid a 1-0 win at Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Saturday, ending a run of two consecutive defeats for Diego Simeone’s side.
Atletico, who play host to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus in their Champions League last-16 first leg on Wednesday night, struggled in the derby clash against 18th place Rayo – but eventually snatched a late victory to move second in the table.
Hosts Rayo had the better of the first half with Adrian Embarba going closest to scoring. Then early in the second half Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak denied Raul de Tomas.
Atletico broke the deadlock in the 74th minute when Alvaro Morata teed-up Griezmann and his close-range volley deflected past Stole Dimitrievski.
“We know that here in Vallecas they press you a lot, they are a good team, the size of the pitch is difficult,” said Atletico forward Diego Costa, who made his return from injury as a substitute.
“It was important to win the game after two defeats, we won here against a good team that will surely stay up.”
Mario Balotelli continued his impressive form with Olympique Marseille by scoring the second as his new club beat Amiens 2-0 in Ligue 1.
The Italian had failed to register a single goal all season for Nice before joining Marseille in the January transfer window, but he has since found the net three times in four games for Rudi Garcia’s side.
Florian Thauvin rifled in the opener after 19 minutes before Balotelli finished on the turn six minutes later to earn his side their third consecutive league win and continue their 100 per cent winning record in six meetings with relegation-threatened Amiens.