28 September 2014
With the second round of Champions League Group A matches firmly on the horizon, Juventus’ UCL rivals were all in action on Saturday in their respective leagues.
A rampant Atletico Madrid warmed up for Wednesday’s clash with the Bianconeri by recording an emphatic 4-0 win over over high-flying Sevilla at the Vicente Calderon.
Goals from Koke and Saul Niguez saw Diego Simeone’s men run into a commanding 2-0 lead at the break before Raul Garcia and Raul Jimenez added two more late on, consigning the away side to their first defeat of the season in Madrid.
Earlier on in the day, Age Hareide’s Malmo were first to take to the field as they ran out 4-1 winners over mid-table Mjallby to extend their lead at the top of the Allsvenskan to 11 points with four games remaining.
It wasn’t all plain sailing for the reigning champions however as Andreas Blomqvist gave the away side the lead after 39 minutes. Emil Forsberg then provided a quick response on the stroke of half-time as both sides went into the break at 1-1.
In the second-half, skipper Markus Rosenberg netted after 64 minutes to give Malmo a 2-1 lead before Forsberg made sure of the points as he completed his hat-trick with two strikes in the final 20 minutes. The result stands the Swedish outfit in good stead ahead of their home tie with Olympiacos on Wednesday night.
The Greek holders, on the other hand, had a tough day at the office as they were beaten 1-0 away at Atromitos.
Anastasios Karamanos’ strike after 29 minutes was enough for all three points as the home side lifted themselves level with Olympiacos and Paok Salonika (who have played a game less) at the summit of the Greek Super League.
