Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone rates Antoine Griezmann as one of the top three players in the world and says the forward owes it to his ability to work hard and the willingness to listen.
Real Madrid closed to within two points of La Liga leaders Barcelona after demolishing nine-man Rayo Vallecano 10-2 while Atletico Madrid missed a chance to seize top spot outright by losing 1-0 at Malaga.
Villarreal fought back to shock Barcelona 3-2 on Sunday, handing the LaLiga champions their first league defeat since late December.
The 21-year-old is the latest youngster to join Atletico who have also brought in Argentine forward Luciano Vietto from Villarreal since the end of last season.
Rayo Vallecano came from behind to beat Real Madrid 3-2 on Monday with the champions failing to reclaim top spot in the standings after two consecutive games without a win.
Lionel Messi scored in his 12th consecutive La Liga game to help leaders Barcelona earn a 1-1 draw at Valencia, allowing second-placed Atletico Madrid to close to within nine points after a 1-0 win over Real Betis on Sunday.
Atletico Madrid took full advantage of Barcelona's defeat at Real Sociedad and closed to within eight points of the La Liga leaders when Adrian and Koke struck in a 2-0 win at home to Levante on Sunday.
Atletico Madrid's Argentina striker Sergio Aguero has been granted dual Spanish nationality, the La Liga side said on their website (www.clubatleticodemadrid.com) on Friday.
Runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City beat champions Chelsea 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday to extend their lead to 18 points and leave the London side further adrift from the Champions League qualification spots.
Atletico Madrid reached the Champions League final on away goals on Tuesday after a 2-1 defeat at Bayern Munich, in which both sides missed a penalty, with the exhilarating tie finishing 2-2 on aggregate.
The quarter-final draw was the last in the current format with UEFA adopting an all-new format from the 2024-25 season onwards.
Saul Niguez announced himself as one of Europe's most promising midfielders by scoring a stunning individual goal to edge Atletico Madrid a step closer to their second Champions League final in three years.
The result also means second-placed Real Sociedad can reclaim top spot if they beat Eibar on Sunday.
David Villa scored twice from the penalty spot to help Valencia to a 4-1 victory at home to Getafe in the Primera Liga on Sunday, putting them back in the hunt for a place in next season's Champions League.
Mesut Ozil netted a superb double to fire Real Madrid to a 3-2 comeback win at Real Valladolid on Saturday and lift Jose Mourinho's side within two points of second-placed Atletico Madrid in La Liga.
Costa has not played for Chelsea since the FA Cup final in May, following which he claims manager Antonio Conte sent him a text telling him he was not in his plans for the new season.
Fernando Llorente netted a dramatic late winner for Athletic Bilbao to eliminate Sporting and Atletico Madrid comfortably held on to a first-leg lead to oust La Liga rivals Valencia on Thursday and set up an all-Spanish Europa League final.
Marco Asensio's strike earned Real Madrid a 1-0 win over Espanyol to send them top of La Liga and Thomas Lemar scored his first goal for Atletico Madrid in a 2-0 victory at Getafe on Saturday.
Atletico Madrid set up a King's Cup final against Sevilla when they went through 6-3 on aggregate despite conceding two late goals to lose 3-2 at Racing Santander in their semi-final second leg on Thursday.
Real Madrid ran riot to sink Espanyol 4-0 at the Bernabeu in the Spanish Primera Liga.
Real Sociedad will join Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, and LaLiga champions Barcelona in Europe's elite club competition next season.
Ajax Amsterdam's Netherlands defender John Heitinga has agreed to sign a five-year deal with Atletico Madrid, he told Tuesday's De Telegraaf newspaper.
Late Griezmann strike ends Atletico's away day hoodoo
Atletico Madrid knocked Barcelona off the top of La Liga, for a day at least, as a second-half strike by Koke earned a 1-0 victory over a stubborn Malaga side on Saturday.
Atletico Madrid substitute goalkeeper Antonio Adan saved three penalties before blasting home the winning spot-kick as the Europa League champions edged out Arsenal after the sides drew 1-1 in their International Champions Cup opener in Singapore on Thursday.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone praised the 'decisive' Antoine Griezmann after his two goals helped down Olympique de Marseille 3-0 in the Europa League final on Wednesday and tried to convince the striker to resist the lure of Barcelona.
A second-string Atletico Madrid missed a penalty and had a man sent off in a 2-1 defeat at third-tier Albacete in their King's Cup last-32 first-leg match on Thursday.
Chelsea's Brazil left back Filipe Luis is poised to return to Atletico Madrid after one season at Chelsea where he failed to hold down a regular first team place, Atletico president Enrique Cerezo said.
Diego Forlan scrambled an early goal to give Atletico Madrid a deserved 1-0 win over a lethargic-looking Liverpool in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday.
'You realise the fear when Barcelona could get knocked out. It would hurt UEFA a lot. I don't know what they have to do for someone to send one of them off'
Atletico Madrid stunned city rivals Real to win their 10th King's Cup. Miranda's extra-time header secured a 2-1 comeback win in an action-packed and ill-tempered clash at the Bernabeu on Friday in which Real coach Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo were both sent off.
Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha both scored twice to help Barcelona thrash hosts Villarreal 5-1.
Real Madrid fans and players showed their support for Vinicius Jr who was subjected to racial abuse over the weekend.
Barcelona were pitted against Italian champions Juventus in the Champions League quarter-final draw made on Friday to set up a repeat of the 2015 final which the Spanish side won 3-1.
At the moment I don't see me having an expiry date, I'd love to stay here for many years to come, says Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti, who'll be completing a landmark on Tuesday.
Barcelona will begin their Spanish league title defence away to Getafe on Aug. 13 while Real Madrid visit Athletic Bilbao the same weekend.
Barcelona got their bid for a third consecutive La Liga title back on course when Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique struck to lift the champions to a 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Holders Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League after being stifled by a brilliantly well-organised Atletico Madrid.
Atletico Madrid put last week's painful defeat by Real Madrid behind them with a 3-0 win over Osasuna on Sunday that included two goals in the space of a minute and allowed them to return to the top four in La Liga.
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