Saturday, March 18, 2023 at 10:58 PM• Jonathan van Haaster

Atlético Madrid has booked a convincing win in LaLiga. Los Colchoneros were too strong for Valencia 3-0 thanks to hits from Antoine Griezmann, Yannick Carrasco and Thomas Lemar. Memphis Depay and Justin Kluivert were both in the starting line-up and they played a creditable game. Memphis in particular had opportunities to score, but failed to do so. The win keeps Atlético on track for Champions League qualification. The lead on number five Real Betis is nine points. Valencia is worryingly seventeenth.

At Atlético, Memphis started for the third time in a row in the base. The attacker was positioned in the front next to Griezmann. Marcos Llorente (right) and Carrasco (left) had to take care of the supply from the sides. Koke and Rodrigo De Paul were the central midfielders. On the side of Valencia, Kluivert gained the confidence of trainer Rubén Baraja. The Dutchman was at the forefront next to Hugo Duro. Yunus Musah and Thierry Correia were the outer midfielders, while Hugo Guillamón and Nico González kept the balance. Edinson Cavani made his comeback in the match selection after more than a month of injury.

???????????????????? opens the score! ??
A nice attack from Atlético and it is 1-0! Because of this, Valencia has to go to work ??#ZiggoSport #LaLiga #AtletiValencia pic.twitter.com/nT0CakiRNE

— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) March 18, 2023

Atlético showed from the start to be the better team, although Kluivert also asserted himself with a good dribble. The Dutchman was slightly unbalanced and, partly because of this, shot well wide. On the other side, Memphis laid the ball ready for Llorente, who shot a few meters wide. Moments later, Memphis crawled well for his man, but his header, on a pass from Griezmann, was not on target. Memphis should have taken care of the opening goal shortly afterwards. A brilliant attack over several discs led to a shooting opportunity for the striker, who didn’t get his shot towards the corner enough. Giorgi Mamardashvili was therefore able to save the day.

Atlético are further ahead… ??
Carrasco knows how to work the ball into the net in the rebound and so Atlético is ahead with a pleasant 2-0 ??#ZiggoSport #LaLiga #AtletiValencia pic.twitter.com/7cA99CKmqe

— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) March 18, 2023

Atlético were much stronger and after 23 minutes the Madrilenians took the lead. Llorente rushed forward and had a nice through ball on Griezmann, who found the far corner with his left: 1-0. After half an hour Dimitri Foulquier stepped on the heel of Memphis, who lost his shoe as a result. Atlético screamed for a foul, after which Hugo Duro took care of the 1-1 in the counter-punch. The Madrilenians were furious, after which the referee, after seeing the images, decided to cancel the goal. Atlético showed great football and got their next chance through Carrasco, to which Mamardashvili had an answer.

There’s the ????????????????????! ??
Atlético has no problem with Valencia and Lemar closes the game ??#ZiggoSport #LaLiga #AtletiValencia pic.twitter.com/bYDjLsYOtj

— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) March 18, 2023

The home team was also supreme at the start of the second half and already in the 49th minute it became 2-0. At first, Memphis just didn’t come out well to get a rebound, but the ball remained in Atlético’s possession. Carrasco went into the combination with Rodrigo De Paul, after which the former found the far corner from close by: 2-0. After more than an hour, Griezmann beautifully put Memphis away, who saw his volley go high over. The the Dutch striker was then substituted for Álvaro Morata, who moments later had an excellent cross on Lemar. The Frenchman hit the target: 3-0. On behalf of Valencia, Kluivert remained the most third-most player. Fifteen minutes before the end, he gave a cross to substitute Cavani, who headed over. In the final phase, Atlético played the game professionally.