Gistyoublog

The 33-year-old defender has been a superb servant to the Rojiblancos throughout the Diego Simeone era and is primed to sign fresh terms Atletico Madrid defender Juanfran insists signing a new contract with the La Liga club is a formality. The 33-year-old right-back returned from a hamstring injury to complete 90 minutes in Atletico's 2-0 Europa League win at Sporting CP on Thursday. Juanfran joined Atletico from Osasuna in 2010 and his deal expires in June. Although Sime Vrsaljko's arrival this season means a first-team place is no longer guaranteed, Juanfran is keen to remain with Diego Simeone's squad. "I'm going to continue at Atletico," he said after the Sporting win. "All that is missing is the signature, which is going to be done shortly." Next up for Atletico is Sunday's derby against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, where victory for Simeone's men would strengthen their grip on second place in LaLiga behind Barce...

Koke and Antoine Griezmann scored first-half goals to lead Atletico Madrid to a handy first-leg advantage against a generous Sporting CP. Koke scored Atletico Madrid's quickest ever Europa League goal after just 22 seconds in an accomplished 2-0 quarter-final first-leg win over a sloppy Sporting CP at Wanda Metropolitano on Thursday. The Spain midfielder punished Sebastian Coates' error to net the opener immediately after kick-off, setting the hosts on their way to a fifth successive victory in this year's competition. In truth, it was made it easy for Diego Simeone's side, Jeremy Mathieu gifting Atleti a second, Antoine Griezmann's fourth goal in as many club outings arriving late in the first half. The Portuguese outfit created occasional opportunities to snatch a handy away goal – substitute Fredy Montero notably blazing over at the death - but while both teams finished third in their respective Champions League groups, there was a clear gulf in qualit...