French international Antoine Griezmann led his team, Atletico Madrid, to tighten the pressure on its guest, Girona III, by defeating them in a summit match 3-1, on Saturday, in the 31st stage of the Spanish Football Championship.
With its second win in a row, “Colchoneros” raised its score to 61 points, compared to 65 for Girona, which returned to its fluctuating results after a historic start to the season for the modest team. Atletico also moved away from the race to qualify for the Champions League, with a temporary five-point difference from fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao.
The Catalan team opened the scoring through its Ukrainian star, Artem Dubvik, from close range (4). However, Argentine coach Diego Simeone’s squad rose up, as Griezmann equalized from a penalty kick after a handball on Miguel Gutierrez (34).
Before the end of the first half, Argentine Angel Correa gave the capital team the lead for the first time with a header from close range (45 + 6), before Griezmann planted the reassuring goal with a right-footed shot from the center of the area, achieving the double (50).
Griezmann raised his tally this season to 21 goals and 8 assists in the 41 matches he played in all competitions, one goal ahead of Englishman Jude Bellingham, the new star for Real Madrid, Polish Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski, and his Atletico teammate Alvaro Morata.
Atletico Madrid achieved a good result on Wednesday, beating its German guest, Borussia Dortmund, 2-1, in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, and will meet them in the return leg next week.
Leader Real Madrid (75 points) will later defeat Real Mallorca, 15th, and runner-up Barcelona (67), defending champions, will defeat Cadiz, 18th.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news