Atlético stunned, Liverpool too good for Bologna

LISBON, Portugal (AP):

ATLÉTICO MADRID’S 4-0 loss at Benfica in the Champions League yesterday was the team’s worst defeat in Europe in three years, according to UEFA.

Diego Simeone’s team had lost by the same score to Bayern Munich in the group stage of Europe’s top club competition in 2021.

The four-goal loss to Benfica is Atlético’s joint-biggest margin of defeat in UEFA club competitions. It had previously lost by four goals on five other occasions.

“From the start, it was really bad,” Atlético goalkeeper Jan Oblak said.

“We didn’t play from the beginning until the end. They did a great job, they have a great team and they deserve to win. They did much more than us. Unfortunately for us, we lost 4-0 and it could have been more.”

Benfica’s victory equalled the biggest winning margin by a Portuguese team against a Spanish one in a European Cup or Champions League match. It also earned the other victory, defeating Real Madrid 5-1 in February 1965.

Muhammed Kerem Akturkoglu opened the scoring in the 13th minute, and Ángel Di Maria, Alexander Bah and Orkun Kokcu added second-half goals for the Portuguese club. Di Maria and Kokcu scored off penalty kicks.

“They took advantage of all the mistakes we could have made, and the truth is that they deserved to win,” Simeone said.

The uncharacteristic defeat by Atlético came after a tense LaLiga derby against Madrid on Sunday, when Atlético needed a stoppage-time goal by Ángel Correa to salvage a 1-1 draw at its Metropolitano Stadium.

Atlético, usually known for their stout defence under Simeone, had last conceded four goals in a league match against Osasuna in May, when they lost 4-1 at home in their second-to-last game of the season.

Atlético had opened their Champions League campaign with a 2-1 win against Leipzig at the Metropolitano. They had only one win in their next three league matches after that.

The club will have to close part of their stadium for three matches because of fan trouble in the derby against Madrid, when some of their supporters threw objects on the field after Madrid scored a goal, prompting the referee to send the players to the locker rooms, interrupting the game for more than 15 minutes.

In another game yesterday, Liverpool has continued to make one of the toughest fixture lists in the new-format Champions League look quite easy.

Bologna were beaten 2-0 yesterday, two weeks after AC Milan were brushed aside 3-1 at the San Siro.

Yesterday’s Results

Girona 2-3 Feyenoord

Benfica 4-0 Atlético

Liverpool 2-0 Bologna

Leipzig 2-3 Juventus

LOSC 1-0 Real Madrid

Sturm Graz 0-1 Club Brugge

Villa 1-0 Bayern

Dinamo Zagreb 2-2 Monaco