AFP – Atletico Madrid fell to a humiliating 4-0 Champions League defeat at Benfica yesterday.
Diego Simeone’s side were thoroughly outplayed and outfought in Lisbon and the Portuguese side triumphed emphatically to record a second win in two matches in the competition.
Bruno Lage’s team went ahead through Kerem Aturkoglu’s 13th minute strike, with former Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria extending the lead from the penalty spot early in the second half.
Alexander Bah headed home the third from a corner in the 75th minute and Orkun Kokcu completed the rout with another penalty late on.
Atletico have now won just one of their last 10 Champions League away matches and barely troubled Benfica at the Estadio da Luz.
Rojiblancos goalkeeper Jan Oblak and defender Axel Witsel endured a tough evening back at their old stomping ground, as Simeone’s team displayed an uncharacteristic lack of grit.
“This is nothing good and I can’t say much more than that — today we weren’t up to it and it was a bad game, the worst game of the season,” Oblak told Movistar.
“We started a first half badly again and in the second we didn’t react like we have in other games.
“Today it’s clear we did not compete in this game, and that can’t be, how come? Tiredness, I don’t know… looking for excuses now has no sense.”
Atletico fought hard to snatch a point from Sunday’s derby draw against rivals Real Madrid but showed little of that spirit yesterday.
It was Atletico’s joint biggest European defeat, tied with five other occasions they have been beaten by the same margin.
“Well done to them, they had a very good game, taking advantage of all the errors we could commit,” a disappointed Simeone told Movistar.
“The truth is they were enormously efficient and they deserved to win, without any doubt… they were better than us in every moment.”
