A stunning strike from Julian Alvarez and an Antoine Griezmann double helped Atletico Madrid to a comfortable win over Slovan Bratislava.
Former Manchester City striker Alvarez opened the scoring for Diego Simeone’s side in the 16th minute with a sumptuous curling effort from the left side of the box for his fourth Champions League goal of the season.
Griezmann scored the first of his two goals three minutes before half-time after some tenacious work from Alvarez allowed Marcos Llorente to loft a ball into the box for the Frenchman to nod home.
The visitors were given a lifeline six minutes after the restart as Clement Lenglet clumsily brought down David Strelec and the striker sent Jan Oblak the wrong way from the resulting penalty.
Six minutes later, though, Griezmann netted his second with a scuffed strike that bobbled over the leg of visiting keeper Dominik Takac.
Before being substituted, the 33-year-old forward had the chance to clinch a brilliant hat-trick, but his angled effort landed in the arms of Takac.
Slovan almost found the net again, but a fine save from Oblak deflected Siemen Voet’s powerful hit on to the post.
Simeone’s side, who have won 10 games in a row in all competitions, have risen to ninth in the League Phase – but just a point behind Bayer Leverkusen in second.
Slovakian side Slovan are bottom of the table as they remain without a point after six matches.
Belgium
