Atlético cruise past Girona for first season win

Goals from Antoine Griezmann, Marcos Llorente and Koke secured Atlético Madrid a 3-0 win over Girona in their first home game of the LaLiga season on Sunday.

Atlético put on a solid performance at the Civitas Metropolitano stadium to overcome last season’s surprise package. They moved up to four points, having drawn at Villarreal in their league opener.

Griezmann opened the scoring in the 39th minute when he sent his free kick into the bottom far corner after Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga got a yellow card for handling the ball outside of the box.

“The fans and the players were really looking forward to coming home after such a long time. A perfect night and let’s keep it going,” Griezmann told DAZN.

“I was waiting to see where the keeper was standing and I saw that there was a little gap at the far post and with a bit of luck it went in.”

Julián Álvarez and Connor Gallagher made their Atlético Madrid debuts in front of a home crowd. Álvarez, who played his first LaLiga match last week at Villarreal, started but struggled to make a significant impact. Gallagher, a recent signing from Chelsea, entered the game in the 58th minute.

Llorente doubled the advantage with a powerful long-range effort past Gazzaniga following a solo run three minutes after the break.

“(Llorente) is like that, he always gives everything for the team,” Griezmann said. “No matter what position you put him in, he gives 100% and these are the players we need at the club.

Captain Koke, who came on early in the second half, sealed the rout with a tap-in in stoppage time off a Llorente cross for his first goal since the 2021-22 season.

“The goals came at the worst time for us. In the first half we did some very good things. The team leaves with a heavy defeat, but there are positives,” Girona midfielder Oriol Romeu said.

Diego Simeone’s side next host promoted Espanyol on Wednesday, while Girona face Osasuna a day later.

“We all have the same enthusiasm, we have to keep it up. We have to give our all in training and then in the matches,” Griezmann added. (Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City; editing by Clare Fallon and Pritha Sarkar)