Rampant Atletico Madrid have thrashed Malmo by a scoreline of 5-0 in this evening's Champions League Group A clash at the Vicente Calderon, every goal coming in the second half of the game.
© Getty Images
The Swedish outfit threatened early on when an Isaac Thelin effort was blocked after just 40 seconds on the clock.
Just a few minutes later, Markus Halsti came close to opening the scoring from a corner, but his header flew just over the crossbar.
It didn't take long for the Spanish champions to regain a foothold in the game, however, with Arda Turan's header on the quarter-hour mark floating just wide, while Juanfran and Saul Niguez also caused Malmo problems minutes later.
© Getty Images
As the game went on, chances became more and more frequent, as both sides pushed forward and attacked at every opportunity, but they were unable to break the deadlock come half time.
It didn't take long for Atletico to make the breakthrough following the restart, however, with Koke receiving a ball from Turan in the 48th minute before slotting home from close range.
Diego Simeone's side went on to turn the screw following their goal, with Mario Suarez forcing a save out of Robin Olsen inside the box.
© Getty Images
Malmo did threaten just before the hour when Emil Forsberg fired just wide of the post, but from the counter-attack, the hosts went on to double their lead, Mario Mandzukic being fed by Koke before poking home from close range.
Just two minutes later, Atletico then struck a somewhat fortunate third as Antoine Griezmann marauded into the box and saw his shot saved by Olsen, with the ball then bouncing high and over the goalline.
The home side ended the game in rampant fashion as Diego Godin planted a header into the Malmo net following a Koke corner in the 87th minute, before Alessio Cerci added a fifth in injury time after poking home on the rebound.
Giuseppe Labellarte
