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Atletico Madrid went up against Elche on Saturday afternoon in hopes to continue their run for third place, and that is exactly what they did. Atletico was able to win 3-0 against Elche and the Frenchman, Antoine Greizmann, was able to net two as Raul Garcia helped as well. Atletico Madrid was coming from a disappointing loss from Wednesday night against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. With no hardware on the line, their only hope is to qualify for the Champions League next season.
Griezmann doubled his tally on Saturday afternoon as he was able to get his 21st and 22nd goal of the season, surpassing Neymar for third place in La Liga this season. Garcia got his 5th goal of the season as well as Juanfran assisted him to get the second goal of the match.
The first half was scoreless but the first goal came in the 55th minute with Griezmann finishing it with a nice header. Juanfran was able to swing a cross to the centre of the box and Koke was able to connect with the ball as he kicked a half volley but saw his shot at goal saved by Prezmyslaw Tyton. Griezmann was the most alert player in the box and was able to pounce on the rebound to head it into an empty net and make it one-nil.
Eight minutes later, Raul Garcia was able to make it a 2-0 game. Juanfran was able to find Garcia in a throw in and decided to test his skills with a shot from 25 yards. The left-footed strike from Garcia ended up passing Tyton who should have done better to tie it, but there was not enough effort.
Griezmann made it a 3-0 game in the 77th minute. Elche had terrible defending and saw the ball drop to Saul Niguez, who showed an impressive vision to set up Griezmann. The frenchman then stabbed the ball to goal from a couple yards out and made the game a bit much more impossible for Elche to come back up.
Atletico Madrid is now in third place with 72 points, four points behind second place Real Madrid. With only five more games to go, Atletico hopes they can stay in the top four to secure a spot for the Champions League competition next season.
The man of the match goes out to Antoine Griezmann, who netted two goals in the game and continues to be in great form for Atletico Madrid.