Atletico Madrid head into half time with a 1-0 lead over Cordoba courtesy of an Antoine Griezmann strike one minute before the whistle.
The home side asked most of the questions in the first period and were unfortunate not to take an early lead when Koke ratted the crossbar with a strike from outside the box.
They came close again in the 20th minute as Guillherme Siqueira collected a pass from Juanfran and forced a good save out of Cordoba goalkeeper Juan Carlos with his left boot.
Cordoba came closer just after the half-hour mark when Nabil Ghilas gained possession inside the area following a counter-attack, and almost got the better of Miguel Moya with a well-hit strike.
Just as the two managers were preparing to give their half-time team talks, Griezmann's deflected strike found its way into the net to give Atletico a deserved one-goal lead at the interval.
Mark Langshaw
