Atleti ease to Europa glory

Antoine Griezmann scored twice as Atletico Madrid eased to Europa League glory with a 3-0 victory over Olympique Marseille on Wednesday.

Griezmann's double in his native France capped off a one-sided Final and Atleti's third success in the competition, although Marseille suffered an early blow when Dimitri Payet went off injured.

The No 7 led Los Colchoneros' line with Diego Costa, but Thomas Partey made way for Angel Correa and Filipe Luis wasn't risked from the outset, having only just recovered from a broken leg.

Diego Simeone's side had lost just one of their last five games, but the Coach was forced to watch the Final from the stands, while Marseille had an extra day's rest and had suffered only one defeat in their previous eight.

Furthermore, the referee for the Final was Dutchman Bjorn Kuipers, who oversaw Atleti’s 4-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the 2014 Champions League Final.

The match started evenly, although the French outfit should’ve taken the lead when Payet’s through ball found Valerie Germain, who sprung Los Rojiblancos’ offside trap and had only Jan Oblak to beat.

However, they didn’t as the striker blazed his finish over the bar, and when Steve Mandanda’s pass to Andre-Frank Zamba Anguissa was miscontrolled by the midfielder, it quickly became a gift for Griezmann.

If that wasn’t bad enough for Marseille, a teary-eyed Payet left the field in the first half, pulling up with a suspected hamstring problem.

Atleti were soon living up to their billing as the masters of game management, looking impenetrable at the back, whereas Marseille went totally flat.

Just four minutes into the restart, Atleti picked Marseille’s pocket again and Koke instantly flicked through Griezmann, who dinked a cushioned finish over Mandanda.

Marseille showed some signs of life after they threw on Kostas Mitroglou, the striker hitting Jan Oblak’s post with a towering header, before the goalkeeper was on hand to gather a thunderous Jordan Amavi volley.

Yet any token of a L’OM comeback was promptly distinguished with the introduction of Fernando Torres, which Gabi Fernandez marked by rifling in a shot across Mandanda at the death.

See how the Final unfolded in Lyon with our liveblog!

Olympique Marseille 0-3 Atletico Madrid

Griezmann 21, 49, Gabi 89

Olympique Marseille: Mandanda; Sarr, Rami, Luiz Gustavo, Amavi; Zambo Anguissa, Sanson; Thauvin, Payet (Maxime Lopez 32), Ocampos (N'Jie 55); Germain (Mitroglou 74)

Atletico Madrid: Oblak; Vrsaljko (Juanfran 46), Gimenez, Godin, Lucas; Correa (Thomas 88), Saul, Gabi, Koke; Costa, Griezmann (Torres 90)

Referee: Kuipers (NED)

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