Five-star Atletico thumps Osasuna
Atletico Madrid hammered Osasuna 5-0 away from home in La Liga on Wednesday to secure its biggest win of the season and give a huge boost to its chances of qualifying for the Champions League.
Atletico’s record signing Joao Felix put the visiting side ahead by arriving in the box and drilling a loose ball into the top corner in the 27th minute. He scored again soon after the restart by nudging home a fine pass from Diego Costa.
Substitute Marcos Llorente stretched Atletico’s lead in the 79th minute and laid on passes for Alvaro Morata and Yannick Carrasco to complete the drubbing. “We have a brilliant squad and if we can keep performing like we did, we can go as far as we want to,” said Atletico manager Diego Simeone.
It is to be noted that Atletico had a subdued return to La Liga action, drawing 1-1 at Athletic Bilbao. Elsewhere, Real Valladolid and Celta Vigo took a point each in a goalless stalemate, while Eibar and Athletic Bilbao played out an entertaining 2-2 draw.
Mainz stuns Dortmund
Mainz scored either side of the break through Jonathan Burkhardt and Jean-Philippe Mateta to stun host Borussia Dortmund 2-0 on Wednesday and take a big step towards remaining in the Bundesliga for another season.
With Bayern Munich having secured its eighth consecutive league title on Tuesday and Dortmund certain of a top-four finish as well as a Champions League spot, the home team rarely threatened in the first half. Mainz was livelier and 19-year-old Burkhardt grabbed the lead in the 33rd minute with his first league goal.
The visitor doubled the advantage four minutes after the restart with Mateta’s penalty after Roman Burki saved a shot from Pierre Kunde and defender Lukasz Piszczek brought down Danny Latza. Mainz is now 15th on the table on 34 points, five above the relegation play-off spot with two games remaining.
Dortmund remains in second place on 66 points, 10 behind Bayern, after RB Leipzig, in third on 63, conceded two late goals to draw 2-2 with Fortuna Duesseldorf. Fourth-placed Bayer Leverkusen secured a 3-1 victory over Cologne, with Hoffenheim defeating Augsburg by the same margin. Earlier, Eintracht Frankfurt got the better of Schalke 2-1.
Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!
Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!
Click here for iOS
Click here for Android