Rip-roaring Mandzukic fires Atleti into the next round

Perception and reality are not always the same thing. Mario Madzukic is a case in point. He may look sluggish and rough around the edges compared to say, the explosive Diego Costa – after all, it’s not quite the same watching an elephant and a panther in action and that’s partly the reason why there is a certain belief both inside and outside of the Calderón that the Croatian isn’t living up to expectations. Judgement might be very different after tonight’s performance against Olympiacos – Mandzukic’s first truly great game for Atleti in which he hit a hat trick to guide El Cholo’s men into the next stage of the tournament and with all likelihood, as leaders of their group. Last season Costa hit 36 goals in 51 games. Mandzukic’s tally stands at 11 in 17 which implies that he could well end the season with similar figures. ‘But he’s not as aesthetic’ you might argue – sure, but is he any worse? We’ll see.

Any centre-forward worth their salt cannot take on the world on their own. This evening, Super Mario got quality service from a team which is functioning better with every week that goes by. In arguably their best performance of the season to date, the Rojiblancos made Olympiacos look like a much worse team than they actually are. The opening goal came on nine minutes but before that, three close chances provoked collective groans from those in the stands – Botía acrobatically cleared when Mandzukic and Raúl García were lurking in the box, then on three minutes Roberto was at full stretch to pummel away a diving header from the Navarran; two minutes after that, the Croatian only needed to go up a shoe size to poke in a Juanfran cross.

It wasn’t the happiest of returns to what was once his home for visiting keeper Roberto who clumsily ceded the ball to Juanfran – it’s hard to tell whether he was actually confused by his former team mate or suffered a flashback to his Rojiblanco past. The right-back gladly accepted and served up a similar gift to Raúl García who turned the ball in inside the six-yard box. What Juanfran and Arda Turan did to poor old Masuaku up until half-time was so cruel it probably would have been deemed unsuitable for prime time television. The young French defender, distinguishable for the white streak in his hair, must have gone in at the break wondering if his whole head of hair had gone grey after the run-around he was given.

Apart from an over-shot volley from Abidal, Olympiacos were unable to pause the Rojiblanco monologue. Ansaldi, Siqueira and Tiago all had a brush with the goal but it was Mandzukic’s night. Moments before the turnaround, the striker capitalized on a mistake from Botía to stroke in Atleti’s second of the evening.

The second half belonged exclusively to the Croatian – or to be more precise, his head. He is one of the greatest headers of the ball on the continent and on 62 minutes, he met an Arda cross full on to make it 3-0 before outleaping Botía to complete his hat trick three minutes later.

With the score standing at 4-0 Simeone decided to retire Arda and Mandzukic – the latter gaining his first ovation from the Calderón and on trotted Griezmann and Raúl Jiménez. The Frenchman had a goal disallowed as the fiesta came to a close. There was no minutes for Cerci tonight but maybe he will get his chance next month in Turin where Atlético contest top spot in Group A, requiring just one point or at worst, a defeat by only one goal. If Atleti play like they did this evening, it will be Juve who will be worrying.

from Últimas noticias | Diario AS http://ift.tt/1vPMpNI

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