Antoine Griezmann and Mario Mandzukic were in sparkling form as Atletico Madrid
bounced back from Copa del Rey elimination to beat Eibar 3-1 at a sodden Ipurua.
Diego Simeone's men crashed out of the Copa after a 3-2 home defeat by
Barcelona on Wednesday and they were greeted with torrential rain in the Basque
Country – initially plunging the game into doubt - but the Liga champions
produced an instant response as they cruised in testing circumstances.
Eighth-placed Eibar rarely looked capable of causing a splash on Saturday, with
Griezmann's eighth league goal from his last six outings giving Atletico a seventh-
minute lead.
The France international was then the architect for Atletico's second, crossing for
the equally sharp Mario Mandzukic to prod home.
Mandzukic added his 10th Liga goal of the season in the 27th minute and, sensing
the match was already won, a stubborn Atletico sat back and tightened their grip
thereafter.
Eibar improved after the break, though Federico Piovaccari's consolation goal came
a minute from time and did little to change the outcome as Atletico remain four
points off the pace of rivals Real Madrid in the Liga title race.
Despite the saturated pitch, Atletico did not resort to a direct style of play and their
commitment to playing the ball was rewarded after just seven minutes.
Griezmann peeled away to the left and was played into the area by Raul Garcia,
the French attacker slamming a precise effort into the bottom-right corner.
Eibar were not quite so keen to stick to the principles of short passing, though,
often pumping the ball into the box to give Miguel Angel Moya something of a
physical test.
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