Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 7y

Win great, beating Sevilla 'even sweeter' for Atletico - Diego Simeone

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone hailed his side's "best performance of the season" after they eased past Sevilla 3-1 on Sunday and said beating Jorge Sampaoli's talked-about team made victory "even sweeter."

Atletico deservedly went ahead just before half-time at the Calderon when Diego Godin headed home Antoine Griezmann's pinpoint free kick.

Griezmann made it 2-0 on the hour, hammering a 25-yard free kick home via the crossbar, with Koke ramming in the third goal from close range. Sevilla got a late consolation through substitute Joaquin Correa.

A fortnight ago Atletico were nine points behind Sevilla in the table, but a swing in fortunes now sees them just two adrift of Sunday's opponents in the race for third place.

And Simeone told his postmatch news conference: "Since 2017 began, we have improved and grown.

"There is a better balance to the games, and we are defending better. Today was one of our best and most consistent games this season. We pressed well, countered well.

"Sevilla have had a magnificent season, praised by everyone, the media. So the result is even sweeter for Atletico. This the path for us to follow, facing to what comes next."

Simeone would not accept that his team were favourites for the final automatic Champions League qualification spot, adding: "We have picked up seven points in three games.

"But Sevilla have better fixtures, home games they will win for sure. There are many games to go yet. We have 10 finals still to play.

"This season was the most difficult of my time at the club, due to injuries, and the team lacked consistency. But we always try and turn things around and find the best path to show our identity."

Sevilla coach Sampaoli was downbeat, telling reporters: "Circumstances are going against us.

"These things have to do with the emotional side. We had a lot of expectations, were close to top of Liga and Champions quarterfinals. When that did not go in our favour, now we need to recover and get on the path we were on.

"We must try and find the authentic version of Sevilla, and there is time for us to recover that."

Atletico right-back Sime Vrsaljko was substituted after just two minutes with a left knee injury that makes him a serious doubt for Croatia's World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Estonia.

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