Atlético Madrid 3-0 Lokomotiv Moscow: Player ratings

Axel Werner (8): The Argentine made his Atlético Madrid debut as Jan Oblak missed out through injury. Because Atlético had the vast majority of possession, Werner did not have a lot to do, but looked solid when called upon. His first save came 78 minutes in from a long, well-struck but speculative shot.

Juanfran (8.5): A well-rested Juanfran is a wonderful thing, as the Atlético veteran played his best game of the season. He was excellent with his passing and effective defensively as well. The Spaniard picked up two assists, the second particularly fantastic for Koke and Atleti’s third.

José Giménez (9): Another great night for the big Uruguayan, who locked down the Lokomotiv Moscow attack alongside Lucas. Though Atlético were not amazing in attack, the defense made sure there were no worries at the other end.

Lucas Hernández (8.5): A very convincing performance in the heart of defense by the young Frenchman (soon-to-be Spanish international), who nearly completed 100 percent of his passes, as did Josema. This is his preferred position, and it showed.

Filipe Luís (8): Fantastic as usual from the Brazilian, who has been and still is one of Atlético’s most valuable players, both in attack and defense.

Koke (7): Koke took the armband Thursday night, and barring the nice finish for his goal, couldn’t quite get going. His passing was excellent and hovered around 90 percent, but he lost the ball far too often and was not involved enough defensively.

Thomas (8.5): Another excellent display in the middle of the park for Thomas, who completed 90 percent of his passes and was very effective in the tackle. Each match he plays, he seemingly grows more and more confident and effective.

Saúl (9): Señor Golazo did it again against Lokomotiv. Saúl picked up the ball more than 30 yards from goal, saw no available teammates and had a crack, which flew into Guilherme’s net like a rocket. It was a tremendous strike from one of world football’s best prospects.

Ángel Correa (6): A mixed first half for the Argentine, who showed his talented dribbling skill but was not effective in the final third. He did provide the Wanda Metropolitano with a good laugh when he hit the hardest cross in the history of football...which went out the other side for a throw. It was a poor day all things considered for Correa, who has struggled for form in 2018. He was eventually replaced by Kévin Gameiro.

Diego Costa (8.5): A quiet first half, of course filled with hard work, but not much end product. That problem was amended after the restart, when the big Brazilian-Spaniard pounced on a poor save by Guilherme and put Atleti up 2-0. After the goal, Costa continued to annoy the Lokomotiv defenders and was eventually replaced by Fernando Torres.

Antoine Griezmann (7): The Frenchman had a great opportunity in the first half when the Moscow goalkeeper lost possession outside of his box, leaving an open goal. However, Griezmann chose to place his shot and it went wide. However, he provided the rebound for Costa’s goal and was pulled on 66 minutes for Vitolo.

Subs:

Fernando Torres (N/A): Neither striking substitute was able to affect the game much. El Niño’s biggest involvement was putting the ball into the back of the net while being fairly far offside.

Kévin Gameiro (N/A): See above. Gameiro will likely start in Russia next week, and should be able to cause havoc with the Lokomotiv backline.

Vitolo (7.5): A good cameo for Vitolo off the bench. He looked energetic and was able to link the midfield and attack in a very promising way. Perhaps this was a small view of what the forward will be able to do for Atleti down the stretch, and maybe showing he should have started at Camp Nou.