Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez celebrates scoring their first goal. — Reuters
Argentina forward Julian Alvarez and substitute Angel Correa each scored two goals, while Marcos Llorente and Antoine Griezmann added to the tally as Atletico Madrid crushed host Sparta Prague 6-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday. The Spanish side delivered a dominant performance, securing their sixth consecutive win across all competitions with what could be considered their best showing of the season. Atletico currently sits ninth in the 36-team Champions League standings with nine points from five matches, while Sparta Prague ranks 28th with four points.
Diego Simeone's Atletico controlled the game from the outset at the Letna Stadion, with Alvarez and striker Alexander Sorloth consistently posing a threat. Sparta Prague's Kaan Kairinen missed a significant early opportunity due to a Llorente error, and they were swiftly punished when Alvarez scored in the 15th minute, curling a free kick from the edge of the box into the top corner. Sorloth's attempt at a second goal was thwarted by goalkeeper Peter Vindahl shortly after. However, Llorente increased the visitors' lead just before halftime, benefiting from Sorloth's clever dummy on his teammate's cross, which deceived everyone, including the goalkeeper, and bounced in at the far post.
Alvarez netted the third goal in the 59th minute, finishing off a counterattack he initiated from Atletico's own half, exchanging a fine one-two with Giuliano Simeone before firing past the goalkeeper. Griezmann, coming off the bench, scored the fourth goal for the visitors in the 70th minute with a precise finish from inside the box, assisted by Llorente. Correa sealed the easy victory with two late goals from inside the box.
"A great game, lots of goals, so I'm very happy. We needed it," Alvarez told Movistar Plus. "I was confident that I was going to score with that free kick. I think it was a great goal that opened the game and helped us to keep on winning." He added, "It was a matter of time and minutes to fit all the pieces together. Little by little the whole team is feeling better. We have to continue on this path and keep working. The group is doing very well so we're going for more."
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