griezmann leads atlético to galatasaray win published: tuesday 15 september 2015, 22.39cet galatasaray 0-2 atlético madrid antoine griezmann struck twice in the opening 25 minutes as atleti eased to victory despite an improved second-half showing from the hosts.
atlético madrid open group c with comfortable win in ıstanbul antoine griezmann doubles his tally of uefa champions league goals galatasaray's winless european run stretched to nine matches home coach hamza hamzaoğlu makes tactical substitution after 32 minutes next games: astana v galatasaray, atlético v benfica (30 september)
antoine griezmann marked his return to form with two goals in the opening 25 minutes as atlético madrid eased to an opening-day victory at galatasaray.
griezmann had managed two goals in 15 uefa champions league appearances prior to this group c clash but doubled that tally in no time as the spanish visitors hit the ground running in ıstanbul.
the opener came on 18 minutes as the frenchman met juanfran's low ball with a fine first-time finish. griezmann had rather less to do for his second, hooking in from point-blank range after diego godín rose above jason denayer at the far post to nod koke's cross back across goal.
galatasaray had conceded four in their last two home games in the competition and a repeat was on the cards. hamza hamzaoğlu acted swiftly, bringing on another forward in umut bulut at the expense of midfielder emre çolak and immediately his side had more balance.
bulut twice threatened to halve the deficit before the break, with denayer going closes still with a header that flashed just wide. galatasaray continued to press after the restart but were never quite able to break through atlético's rearguard.
ınstead, the visitors threatened on the break. denayer's block denied saúl ñíguez and griezmann might have had a hat-trick but jackson martínez opted for goal himself. still, having managed just one goal in 12 games going into tonight, griezmann will be satisfied with two. as will atleti.
man of the match: antoine griezmann ıt took antoine griezmann the space of seven minutes to double his uefa champions league goals tally with his quickfire double. his mobility and pace caused the hosts problems all night. he was impeccable at exploiting space in the galatasaray defence and converted his chances. now can he do it against benfica?
atlético thrive on intense situations the colchoneros started last season's competition with a defeat at olympiacos, and diego simeone's men looked determined to avoid making the same mistake twice. an electric atmosphere at ali sami yen spor kompleksi never fazed atlético and their passing was crisp and accurate from the off.
galatasaray's finishing lets them down the hosts were determined to erase the bitter memories of last season's uefa champions league campaign and looked lively up front. ın the end they had over 20 attempts on goal but few found the target and none really concerned jan oblak.
