Atlético Madrid have warmed up for the Champions League clash against FC Bayern with a win. Four days prior to the teams’ semi-final first leg, the Rojiblancos posted a narrow but merited 1-0 victory over FC Malaga to go top of the Spanish league table on Saturday, although Barcelona recovered first place later in the evening with a thumping 6-0 dismissal of Gijon.
Atlético dominated their match at Estadio Vicente Calderón, effectively shutting out any attacking efforts mustered by Malaga, who brought on former FCB man Roque Santa Cruz in the 77th minute. At the other end, home sub Angel Correa netted the 62nd-minute winner with a deflected long-range shot.
Coach Diego Simeone fielded his best available line-up but was himself sent to the stands shortly before the break for throwing a second ball onto the pitch to disrupt a Malaga counter-attack. Atlético were without injured defensive organiser Diego Godin, who is also definitely out of Wednesday’s European clash. Stand-in centre-back José María Giménez instead made a successful comeback after several weeks out with injury.
Atlético line-up against Malaga:
Oblak - Juanfran, Gimenez, Lucas, Filipe Luis - Koke, Gabi, Saul Niguez, Ferreira-Carrasco (Correa 57) - Fernando Torres, Griezmann (Augusto 66)
Topics of this article