Atlético win Group C by defeating Benfica
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Article summary
Benfica 1-2 Atlético
Goals from Saúl Ñíguez and Luciano Vietto secured victory for the Rojiblancos as they topped Group C at the expense of their opponents.
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Article body
- Atlético win Group C with victory over Benfica in Lisbon
- Saúl Ñíguez gives the Spanish outfit a first-half lead, Luciano Vietto makes it 2-0
- Kostas Mitroglou replies for Benfica, who finish as runners-up
- Atlético are 13 games unbeaten since losing to Benfica on 30 September
- The round of 16 draw takes place at 12.00CET on 14 December
Atlético Madrid will head into the UEFA Champions League round of 16 draw as Group C winners after getting the better of fellow qualifiers Benfica at the scene of their 2014 final defeat.
Atlético had the ball in the net after 18 quiet minutes, Diego Godín's joy cut short by an assistant referee's raised flag. Godín's attempt, the first of note, heralded a spell of Rojiblancos pressure and two saves in quick succession from Júlio César, who palmed wide Saúl Ñíguez's drive from outside the box before tipping over a rising Gabi effort.
The Benfica threat was sporadic, their first-half attempts floundering once they reached the edge of the visitors' area. Stefan Savić illustrated that point perfectly when executing a perfectly-timed challenge on Pizzi just as the former Atlético midfielder was about to pull the trigger.
Within minutes, Diego Simeone's men were deservedly ahead. Antoine Griezmann was the instigator, finding Luciano Vietto with a clever ball down the side of the Eagles' defence. The Argentinian international showed great awareness to pick out Ñíguez for a measured finish.
If Benfica had laboured before the break, they came close within seconds of the restart through substitute Kostas Mitroglou, who stepped inside a challenge before drilling narrowly wide of Jan Oblak's near post.
Vietto, however, gave the Spanish team the security of a two-goal cushion when he stole a march on Jardel at the near post to deftly divert Yannick Carrasco's teasing low delivery past César. Mitroglou set up a thrilling last quarter of an hour with a shot in off Oblak's left-hand post.
A transformed attacking force with Mitroglou and Raúl Jiménez now leading the line, Benfica pressed for the equaliser that would have redressed the group balance, going closest when the latter headed a left-wing cross wide with seven minutes remaining.
Reaction
Rui Vitória, Benfica coach
We saw the 'Benfiquista' spirit today after we went 2-0 down – searching for the draw and managing to push Atlético towards their goal. We deserved more than we got. Our reaction was very good, we used the full pitch and pressed everywhere against a big team. We weren't afraid, we competed with Atlético and the match could have gone either way.
Diego Simeone, Atlético coach
We got what we wanted. My team did what was asked against rivals that played well and wanted possession. Initially they dominated, but we saw that when we got the ball we managed to play in [Yannick] Carrasco and [Antoine] Griezmann, and the first goal came after a lovely bit of play. That's why we placed Saúl Ñíguez there. At 2-1 we had some problems – we failed to play on the counterattack and the game was a bit tight until the end.