Despite the freezing air in the Russian capital, Diego Simeone was left warmed by his team’s display as Atletico Madrid comfortably booked their place in the Europa League quarter final.
After recording a 3-0 victory in the home leg over Lokomotiv Moscow, expectations were high for the visitors to the RZD Arena and they didn’t disappoint.
The Argentine coach named a strong starting line-up, although Antoine Griezmann was left on the bench, and Fernando Torres starting as the lone-striker as Diego Costa continues to battle through fitness issues.
Whilst there was no really comparison between the two teams on paper, it was important for Los Colchoneros to adjust to the challenging conditions early on, UEFA even stipulated that the match kick-off earlier in the afternoon in the interest of both player and supporter safety.
Angel Correa spent much of the early part of the season struggling to find the net, despite encouraging performances when given the chance by the former River Plate coach, however it was Correa who opened the scoring after just 16 minutes.
This crucial away goal put the tie beyond the Russians, and it was fully deserved after Correa kick-started a quick one-two move with Torres before placing the ball past Anton Kochenkov into the bottom right corner.
Almost immediately the hosts had drawn level, Lokomotiv Moscow took a short corner and the ball fell to Maciej Rybus around 30 yards from goal, he took one touch to steady himself before firing a long-range effort past Axel Werner much to the surprise of almost everybody pitchside.
Even the most ardent Lokomotiv supporter couldn’t see that as a springboard to really challenge Atleti, the gulf in class was just too apparent as Gabi dictated the tempo of the match with ease.
Enrique Cerezo spoke about the poor pitch in the build-up to the match and he was proven correct as the surface prevented any overly expansive football from being played.
Shortly after half-time Saul Niguez confirmed what we already knew with a side-footed finish from inside the penalty area, adding the finishing touches to a clever Filipe Luis cross.
As the match progressed towards its conclusion, Atletico’s veteran forward immediately sprung into life in the 65th minute.
Griezmann made his first real contribution by making a surging run from midfield, only to be brought down by the onrushing Kochenkov.
Torres fired the penalty straight down the middle of the goal, before adding his second just minutes later with a vintage placed finish into the bottom corner of the net.
As the home crowd began to unveil various homage to the former Liverpool forward, the visitors could quite comfortably begin thinking about the next round.
The Europa League has taken on a newfound importance with the club eager to add another trophy to their haul under Simeone, yet the icing on the cake in Russia was yet to come.
A quite wondrous piece of skill from Correa saw him flick the ball over the head of a dumbstruck defender, with Griezmann then sumptuously chipping the ball into the net from 25 yards to secure a 5-1 victory.
One advantage of an early kick-off for the Spanish giants is that they can now look towards the rest of Thursday’s fixtures and look who will join them in Friday’s draw, at this point both Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund stand out as potential dream opponents for the neutral, Simeone, on the other hand, will likely want to avoid both.
