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Julian Alvarez joined Atletico Madrid from Manchester City in August 2024 A stunning strike from Julian Alvarez and an Antoine Griezmann double helped Atletico Madrid to a comfortable win over Slovan Bratislava. Former Manchester City striker Alvarez opened the scoring for Diego Simeone's side in the 16th minute with a sumptuous curling effort from the left side of the box for his fourth Champions League goal of the season. Griezmann scored the first of his two goals three minutes before half-time after some tenacious work from Alvarez allowed Marcos Llorente to loft a ball into the box for the Frenchman to nod home. The visitors were given a lifeline six minutes after the restart as Clement Lenglet clumsily brought down David Strelec and the striker sent Jan Oblak the wrong way from the resulting penalty. Six minutes later, though, Griezmann netted his second with a scuffed strike that bobbled over the leg of visiting keeper Dominik Takac. Before being substituted, the 33-year-old forward had the chance to clinch a brilliant hat-trick, but his angled effort landed in the arms of Takac. Slovan almost found the net again, but a fine save from Oblak deflected Siemen Voet's powerful hit on to the post. Simeone's side, who have won 10 games in a row in all competitions, have risen to ninth in the League Phase - but just a point behind Bayer Leverkusen in second. Slovakian side Slovan are bottom of the table as they remain without a point after six matches. After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Last Updated 11th December 2024 at 21: 52 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Manager: Diego Simeone Formation: 4 - 4 - 2 Manager: Vladimír Weiss Formation: 3 - 4 - 3 Manager: Diego Simeone Formation: 4 - 4 - 2 Manager: Vladimír Weiss Formation: 3 - 4 - 3 UEFA Champions League All competitions Atlético Madrid have never faced a Slovakian side in Europe before, while Slovan Bratislava are winless in their last seven games against Spanish sides (D2 L5), losing each of the last three. Slovan Bratislava have only won one of their eight games against Spanish sides in Europe to date (D2 L5). That one victory, however, saw them win the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1969 (3-2 v Barcelona), which remains their only European honour. Atlético Madrid enjoyed a 6-0 win over Sparta Prague on MD5, their joint biggest UEFA Champions League victory, along with the 6-0 win over Celtic in November 2023. Atlético won six games in between those 6-0 wins and none of them were by more than two goals. In what is their first ever UEFA Champions League campaign, Slovan Bratislava have lost all five matches so far and have shipped the most goals (18). Only five teams previously have lost their first six games in the competition, two of which are fellow Slovakian outfits – FC VSS Kosice in 1997-98 and MSK Zilina in 2010-11. Since the start of last season, only three teams have scored more UEFA Champions League goals than Atlético Madrid (34). Indeed, among the 21 teams to have attempted 100+ shots, Atlético have the best conversion rate (16. 9%). Slovan Bratislava have been behind on the scoreboard for 66% of their total match time in the UEFA Champions League this season; the highest percentage of any side through the first five matchdays. In terms of overall minutes trailing, only Crvena Zvezda (314) have been behind for more than the Slovakian side (313). Just 14% of Slovan Bratislava’s high-intensity pressures in the UEFA Champions League this season have been made in the final third; the lowest percentage of any team. Julián Alvarez has been involved in 15 goals in 22 UEFA Champions League appearances (11 goals, 4 assists), scoring twice on MD4 for Atlético against Sparta Prague. Among players with 1, 000+ minutes in the competition’s history, only Erling Haaland (one every 69 mins) has a better minutes per goal or assist ratio than Alvarez (one every 74 mins). Atlético Madrid’s Ángel Correa has scored in each of his last two UEFA Champions League appearances, both as a substitute, scoring three goals. Indeed, five of his six goals overall have been as a sub (83%), the highest percentage among players with 5+ goals in Champions League history. Among those to have attempted 100+ passes in the UEFA Champions League this season, Slovan Bratislava defender Kevin Wimmer is the player with the highest percentage of his passes breaking at least one opposition line (25. 8% - 31/120). Match ends, Atletico Madrid 3, SK Slovan Bratislava 1. Second Half ends, Atletico Madrid 3, SK Slovan Bratislava 1. Foul by Conor Gallagher (Atletico Madrid). Juraj Kucka (SK Slovan Bratislava) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Alexander Sørloth (Atletico Madrid). Guram Kashia (SK Slovan Bratislava) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Fourth official has announced 4 minutes of added time. Attempt missed. Nino Marcelli (SK Slovan Bratislava) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Juraj Kucka. Foul by Koke (Atletico Madrid). César Blackman (SK Slovan Bratislava) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Alen Mustafic (SK Slovan Bratislava). Substitution, SK Slovan Bratislava. Vladimír Weiss replaces Kenan Bajric. Substitution, SK Slovan Bratislava. Alen Mustafic replaces Kyriakos Savvidis. Giuliano Simeone (Atletico Madrid) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Sharani Zuberu (SK Slovan Bratislava). Attempt saved. Siemen Voet (SK Slovan Bratislava) left footed shot from the left side of the six yard box is saved in the bottom left corner. Attempt missed. Sharani Zuberu (SK Slovan Bratislava) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Siemen Voet with a headed pass following a corner. Corner, SK Slovan Bratislava. Conceded by Javi Galán. Attempt missed. José María Giménez (Atletico Madrid) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Rodrigo Riquelme with a cross following a corner. © 2024 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.