CNN
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Antoine Griezmann scored twice, including straight from a corner, as Atlético Madrid beat Real Betis 2-1 on Sunday to move up to third in the Spanish La Liga.
After a scoreless first half, Griezmann’s ‘Olimpico’ goal gave Atlético the lead when Rui Silva failed to recover his corner – minutes after Betis saw the effort from Luiz Henrique refused for an offside in the preparation.
The France international scored his second inside the legs of Silva after a fine interaction with Ángel Correa and substitute Matheus Cunha.
Betis fought back with Nabil Fekir’s superb free-kick and almost equalized in stoppage time when Álex Moreno’s header hit the bar.
It was a frustrating end to the game for the home side, who are now fifth in La Liga – three points behind Atlético and 11 behind leaders Real Madrid.
According to Atlético, Griezmann is now third in the club’s all-time goalscoring rankings after Sunday’s match with 147 goals, behind Luis Aragonés with 172 and Adrián Escudero with 169.
The win means Diego Simeone’s side went unbeaten in La Liga in October and next face Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Wednesday, where they need a win to stay in contention for a place in the knockout stage. of the competition.
Griezmann signed a new contract with Atlético earlier this month after playing on loan from Barcelona since the summer of 2021 – ending a bizarre period where the 31-year-old star striker was mainly used as a second-team substitute period.
In 11 games for Atlético between August 15 and October 8, Griezmann started just three matches – in the other eight he came on or just after the hour mark.
According to the Guardian, Griezmann’s loan to Barcelona meant there were restrictions around how many times he could play more than 45 minutes in a game, otherwise Atlético would have to buy the France international and pay the Catalan club 39.2 million dollars (40 million euros).
He scored three goals before signing the new contract on October 10 and since then he has netted three times in four games. Griezmann was in Atlético’s starting XI for the last four matches.
The new contract keeps him at Atlético until June 2026.
Elsewhere, Barcelona continued their good form this season with a comfortable 4-0 victory against Athletic Bilbao.
Goals from Ousmane Dembélé, Sergi Roberto and Robert Lewandowski in the first 22 minutes gave Barcelona a decisive lead, before Ferrán Torres completed the second-half rout.
Lewandowski’s first-half effort, which came after a brilliant run from Dembélé, took the Polish striker to 12 La Liga goals this season, five more than any other player.
Barca are now three points behind Real Madrid, with their only league defeat coming in El Clásico earlier this month.
