Istanbul: Spanish giants Atletico Madrid made a confident start to their Champions League campaign, cantering past Group C rivals Galatasaray 2-0.
French international Antoine Griezmann ran rings around a leaky Galatasaray defence with two goals in a devastating seven-minute spell to settle the game in the first half.
Despite an improvement by Galatasaray in the second half, the tie demonstrated the sheer gulf in class between last season’s La Liga third placed side and the Turkish Super Lig champions.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone could afford to leave plenty of firepower on the bench, including former Liverpool and Chelsea striker Fernando Torres, who was brought on after 60 minutes.
French international Griezmann stunned the traditionally boisterous Istanbul crowd into silence with a goal in the 18th minute, slamming the ball past Fernando Muslera after finding himself unmarked in the box.
