Atletico Madrid lifted the Europa League trophy with a comfortable 3-0 victory against Olympique de Marseille at the Parc Lyon on Wednesday night.
Two goals by Antonie Greizmann secured the victory for Diego Simeone’s side, in what many believe could be his last game for the Wanda Metropolitano outfit.
Marseille will have been disappointed with their performance during the game, with Dmitri Payet having to be withdrawn in the first half with an injury summing their night up.
Uninspiring first-half
The French side had the first chance of the game inside the first five minutes when Payet slipped a ball into Valere Germain, who managed to side-foot his attempt across the bar from ten yards out.
Marseille continued to dominate for much of the first half, however, they were unable to take control of the tie as Jan Oblak was equal to much of the Ligue One sides efforts.
Griezmann on hand
They were made to pay for their inability to put the Spanish side behind when a costly error by Andre Zambo Anguissa was punished by Greizmann as he slid the ball past Steve Mandanda in goal.
Things got worse for Marseille before the half-time whistle when Payet had to come off with an apparent injury and looked devastated to have to leave the game, in a rather uneventful first 45 minutes of the tie.
Atletico dominate the final 45 minutes
Simeone must have got a message through to the team at half-time telling his side to play more on the front foot, as they begin the second half in stark contrast to how they kicked the tie off, despite having to leave touchline duties to German Burgos following his ban.
Just five minutes into the final half of Europa League football this season, Griezmann doubled Atletico’s lead with a wonderful finish, giving Mandanda no chance and it appeared to put the final sword into Marseille’s hopes of winning the tournament.
The Spaniards rarely looked back following the second goal and took complete control of the tie and things could have been better moments later when Adil Rami almost put the ball in his own net.
It took the French side until the 80th-minute mark to make a real impact, however, Kostas Mitroglou headed against the inside of the post and bounced away.
Atletico asserted their domination in the final minutes in the game when Gabi smashes the ball past Mandanda to seal the win for the La Liga giants and seal their third Europa League title.