MADRID: Atletico Madrid on Saturday completed a good four days as they followed their Champions League quarter-final first-leg victory over Borussia Dortmund with a 3-1 Spanish La Liga victory over third-placed Girona.
Antoine Griezmann scored twice as Diego Simeone’s men moved to within four points of their opponents and pulled five clear of fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao in the race for Champions League qualification.
The Basques play Villarreal on Sunday.
Atletico won the home leg of their European tie 2-1 on Wednesday and visit Dortmund for the second leg on Tuesday.
Girona took the lead in Madrid with a fourth-minute goal from close range by Artem Dovbyk that took him on to a league-leading 17 goals.
Griezmann responded by converting a 34th-minute penalty.
Angel Correa then gave the home side the lead six minutes into added time at the end of the first half.
Griezmann extended his lead five minutes into the second half, taking advantage of a defensive error to fire home his 13th league goal of the season.
With an eye on the game in Germany, the France attacker was then replaced shortly after the hour mark by Marcos Llorente.
Girona’s fifth defeat away from home, gives Barcelona, buoyed by their midweek 3-2 Champions League win at Paris Saint-Germain, the chance to tighten their grip on second when they visit struggling Cadiz in the last game of the day.
Real Madrid, eight points clear at the top, play at Mallorca later on Saturday.
Griezmann strikes twice as Atletico sink Girona
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Griezmann strikes twice as Atletico sink Girona
- Girona took the lead in Madrid with a fourth-minute goal from close range by Artem Dovbyk that took him on to a league-leading 17 goals.
- Griezmann responded by converting a 34th-minute penalty
Rooney says Salah ‘destroying his Liverpool legacy’
- The Egypt forward said on Saturday he felt like he had been ‘thrown under the bus’ by Liverpool
- He was left on the bench for the third consecutive game in a 3-3 draw at Leeds and not even introduced as a substitute
LONDON: Mohamed Salah is “absolutely destroying his Liverpool legacy” following an extraordinary outburst at manager Arne Slot, according to Wayne Rooney.
The Egypt forward said on Saturday he felt like he had been “thrown under the bus” by Liverpool and that he no longer had a relationship with Slot after he was left on the bench for the third consecutive game in a 3-3 draw at Leeds and not even introduced as a substitute.
After next weekend’s home match against Brighton, Salah is set to depart for the Africa Cup of Nations and hinted that could be his final appearance in a Liverpool shirt should he be selected.
Former Manchester United and England striker Rooney believes Slot must now demonstrate he is in charge at Anfield by leaving Salah out completely from Tuesday’s Champions League tie at Inter Milan.
“Arne Slot has to show his authority and pull him in and say ‘you are not traveling with the team, what you said is not acceptable’,” said Rooney in his latest BBC podcast.
“Take yourself off to AFCON (the Africa Cup of Nations) and let everything calm down. If I was him there would be no way he would be in the team.”
Rooney added: “He (Salah) is absolutely destroying his legacy at Liverpool. It would be sad for him to throw it all away. He’s gone about it all wrong.”
Salah is Liverpool’s third highest goalscorer of all time with 250 goals in 420 appearances for the club.
However, the 33-year-old has been a shadow of his former self during Liverpool’s struggles this season — the club are now ninth in the table — with a mere four goals in 13 Premier League appearances.
After the Leeds game, Salah told reporters: “I said many times before that I had a good relationship with the manager, and all of a sudden we don’t have any relationship.
“It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That is how I am feeling. I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame.”
