The match: 3-1
Victorious over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday (2-1) in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League, Atlético de Madrid will travel to Signal Iduna Park for the return on Tuesday (9 p.m.) with a light mind. The Colchoneros indeed carried out an excellent operation in La Liga this Saturday, defeating Girona, the surprise team of the season, thanks to a double from their maestro Antoine Griezmann (3-1).
This success allows Diego Simeone’s players to put pressure on Athletic Bilbao, temporarily relegated to five points from fourth qualifying place for the Champions League before hosting Villarreal on Sunday (6:30 p.m.). Girona remains on the podium, four points ahead of its opponent of the day.
After the festival of the first leg, which ended with a victory for Girona (4-3, on January 3), the game was once again unbridled under the Madrid sun. Girona struck from the start with the inevitable Artem Dovbyk (4th, see below), and could have driven the point home with more success.
Loaned by Troyes, the Brazilian Savio (19 years old) made considerable differences, with his speed and his sense of dribbling. Already at the origin of the opening score, he could have obtained a penalty before the break for a charge by the former Lille player Reinildo, but the referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea did not even go to see his screen. control (45th+3).
Griezmann determining
Although under pressure, Atlético nevertheless overthrew Girona before the break, first coming back from a set piece. After a handball from Miguel Gutierrez in the area on a delivery from Mario Hermoso following a free kick that he himself had taken, Antoine Griezmann perfectly crossed his left shot to equalize from the penalty spot (34th). Atlético then took the lead just before half-time when Alvaro Morata, coming on in place of Saul Niguez (hit in an ankle), broke away to find the head of Angel Correa (45th + 7) .
Already extraordinary on Wednesday in the Champions League, Griezmann made the Civitas Metropolitano roar with a heavy recovery from the right under the bar (50th), to ensure success from the start of the second period. Author of a great season, the 33-year-old Frenchman brought his total to 13 goals in La Liga (19 in 41 club matches in all competitions). It was well worth a choreography with his friend Rodrigo de Paul on his celebration. Nahuel Molina missed the opportunity to increase Madrid’s success against the open goal (70th), two minutes after Griezmann’s exit to the ovation of his audience.
The fact: Dovbyk takes the lead in the scorers’ ranking
After a two-month drought, Artem Dovbyk is back on a frenetic pace. Scorer with his selection on March 21 in Bosnia (2-1), the Ukrainian had already reflected his current confidence with a double against Betis on the previous day (3-2). This Saturday, the 26-year-old striker struck after four minutes of play, appearing on the edge of offside to cut out a cross from Yan Couto.
This 17th goal allowed him to take sole lead in the Liga scorers’ ranking, ahead of Jude Bellingham and Ante Budimir (16). A little too short to score a double on a cross from Savio (10th) and more clumsy after the break, he hurt the Madrid defense with his power and his stalls. Enough to increase his rating in England, while Chelsea and Newcastle have positioned themselves on his file in recent weeks.
