Griezmann strike rescues Atletico Madrid's party night
Antoine Griezmann’s second-half strike on Saturday night ensured the inauguration of Atletico Madrid’s new 68,000 seat stadium ended in success. The France international steered home Angel Correa’s cross from the right on the hour mark at the Wanda Metropolitano.
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"I'm delighted to score the first goal in this magnificent stadium and hopefully it is the first of many," Griezmann told Bein Sports Spain. "For me it is the best stadium I have played in and I don't just say that because it is my club."
The 1-0 victory over Malaga took Atletico to within four points of leaders Barcelona who maintained their 100 per cent start to the season with a 2-1 win at Getafe.
Before the game, Atletico boss Diego Simeone had called on fans to recreate the intimidating atmosphere of their old home at the Vicente Calderon by turning their new ground into a pressure cooker.
The fervour matched the pre-game spectacle as Spain's royal air force took part in a flyover and the match ball was delivered by paragliders.
"As a player or a coach I have never seen anything like it," said Simeone. "The memory will live with me for the rest of my life. All the Atletico flags flying, the fans involvement, I wanted to go on and play!"
The Spanish king, Felipe VI, an Atletico fan, was also in attendance. But after all the pyrotechnics and panache of the prelude, the first 45 minutes were drab.
Correa had Atletico's only two clear chances. But the 22-year-old Argentine blazed over the bar and then straight at Malaga goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez. Griezmann, restored to the starting line-up after a two game suspension, provided the party piece.
Leaders come from behind
Pacesetters Barcelona left it late to claim their three points at Getafe. Gaku Shibasaki opened the scoring with a sumptuous volley from 25 metres to give the hosts a 1-0 lead at half-time.
Second-half susbstitute Denis Suarez levelled after 62 minutes and 40 million euro signing Paulinho grabbed the winner six minutes from time.
“It was an important test for us. Fortunately we managed to turn the game around and that power of reaction the team had means a lot," said Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde.
Paulinho told Barca TV: "It was a difficult game because Getafe have players with quality and we conceded the first goal. But we were calm, had patience and went looking for the result.
“I'm very happy to score the goal. It was the winner which was the most important thing.”
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