An inspired Koke scored one goal and had a hand in three more as Atletico Madrid secured their biggest UEFA Champions League victory with a 5-0 drubbing of Swedish side Malmo FF in Group A on Wednesday.
Last season’s beaten finalists struggled to convert overwhelming dominance into goals in the first period, before Koke ran on to Arda Turan’s clever dinked pass and fired into the corner three minutes after the break.
Mario Mandzukic made it 2-0 in the 61st minute when he poked Koke’s low cross into the net, before Antoine Griezmann added a third two minutes later when he picked up a Koke pass and unleashed a powerful shot that looped up off Malmo goalkeeper Robin Olsen and into the net.
Photo: EPA
Diego Godin headed Koke’s outswinging corner powerfully into the net three minutes from time and substitute Alessio Cerci completed an easy win for the Spanish champions when he lashed a shot into the corner in the third minute of stoppage-time.
“We played a great match,” Atletico fullback Juanfran told reporters. “We were very intense and we kept up the pressure. The coach told us to keep pressing, that eventually the ball would go in, and in the end the goals came.”
Atletico, who were beaten 3-2 at Olympiakos in their opening match and bounced back to down Juventus 1-0, were far too strong for Malmo and the victory over the Swedish champions gave them a share of first place in the group, level on six points with Olympiakos.
The Greek side scored a surprise 1-0 home win over Italian champions Juventus, who have three points along with Malmo after three of six matches.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone fielded an attacking lineup on another festive night at the Estadio Vicente Calderon, and the home side created and squandered a string of first-half chances.
Griezmann smashed a shot against the underside of the crossbar in the 34th minute when it seemed easier to score and Arda fired narrowly wide when well-placed four minutes before the break.
Atletico went into cruise control after their third goal, while Malmo came closest to scoring in the 76th minute when Markus Halsti flashed a shot just wide.
“I knew that if we created chances the goals would come in the end,” Griezmann said.
“We have to keep going in the same direction, with the same intensity and the same style of play,” he said.
Atletico have won 19 of their past 21 matches at the Vicente Calderon in UEFA competition, their only defeat a 2-0 reverse to Russian side Rubin Kazan in the UEFA Europa League round-of-32 in February last year.
Last season, the Spanish champions won five and drew one of six home games en route to the final of Europe’s elite club competition, where they were beaten 4-1 by Real Madrid after extra-time.
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