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REVENGE IS SWEET FOR MALAGA
Malaga emphatically gained revenge for their mauling at the hands of Atletico Madrid on the opening weekend of last season by crushing the Rojiblancos 3-0 at La Rosaleda.
Twelve months ago at the Vicente Calderon, Atletico were 4-0 victors over Malaga in what was the Andalusian club's first match back in the Primera Division following their promotion.
Malaga bounced back from that heavy loss to finish last season in eighth spot though, and they could be set for another memorable campaign this time around after getting off to a flying start against the La Liga heavyweights.
Nabil Baha put the hosts ahead in the 34th minute with an acrobatic overhead kick, before Atletico's old defensive lapses returned in the second half to allow Malaga to add further goals from Manu and Xavi Torres.
Atletico had brought in highly-rated goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo and veteran former Spain defender Juanito this summer in a bid to solve their defensive frailties, but some dismal set-piece marking by the home side led to Manu and Torres both netting.
The defeat will be a concern for Atletico coach Abel Resino, and he cannot use rustiness as an excuse as his team have already played two European matches, beating Panathinaikos 5-2 on aggregate to make it through to the Champions League group stages.
The second leg of that tie was played on Tuesday when Atletico recorded a 2-0 home win, but the Rojiblancos were unable to build on that despite a promising start against Malaga.
The hosts went close first when Torres fired over from close range, but then visiting midfielder Raul Garcia headed a gilt-edged chance over from a corner after Malaga had left three Atletico players unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box.
That was in the sixth minute and Simao went even closer seven minutes later when he bravely threw himself at Sergio Aguero's cross to send a header goalwards that Malaga goalkeeper Gustavo Munua did brilliantly to tip onto the crossbar.
Simao suffered a sickening clash of heads with Patrick Mtiliga in that incident and the Malaga man, with blood pouring from his scalp, was unable to continue.
Just before the half-hour, Atletico coach Resino was sent to the stands by the referee, but his side continued to create the better chances and Aguero was denied by Munua after being put away by Diego Forlan.
It was Malaga who would break the deadlock though, and it was some goal as Manolo Gaspar's deep cross was volleyed back into the danger area by Duda where Baha sent an unstoppable bicycle kick into the far corner of the net.
That goal was all the separated the teams at the break, and Atletico came close to cancelling it out at the start of the second half when Cleber Santana's well-struck 25-yard shot was well stopped by Munua.
However, Atletico's attempted recovery suffered a huge blow in the 63rd minute when they conceded a soft second goal.
A deep free-kick found Albert Luque ghosting in unmarked at the far post, and although his header was pushed out by Asenjo, Manu was an hand to smash the ball home from close range.
Atletico had no response to that and their misery was made complete in the 89th minute when more non-existent marking allowed Torres to head Selim Benachour's corner into the roof of the net, making it happy homecoming for Malaga coach Juan Ramon Lopez Muniz following his return to the hotseat this summer.
Malaga emphatically gained revenge for their mauling at the hands of Atletico Madrid on the opening weekend of last season by crushing the Rojiblancos 3-0 at La Rosaleda.
Twelve months ago at the Vicente Calderon, Atletico were 4-0 victors over Malaga in what was the Andalusian club's first match back in the Primera Division following their promotion.
Malaga bounced back from that heavy loss to finish last season in eighth spot though, and they could be set for another memorable campaign this time around after getting off to a flying start against the La Liga heavyweights.
Nabil Baha put the hosts ahead in the 34th minute with an acrobatic overhead kick, before Atletico's old defensive lapses returned in the second half to allow Malaga to add further goals from Manu and Xavi Torres.
Atletico had brought in highly-rated goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo and veteran former Spain defender Juanito this summer in a bid to solve their defensive frailties, but some dismal set-piece marking by the home side led to Manu and Torres both netting.
The defeat will be a concern for Atletico coach Abel Resino, and he cannot use rustiness as an excuse as his team have already played two European matches, beating Panathinaikos 5-2 on aggregate to make it through to the Champions League group stages.
The second leg of that tie was played on Tuesday when Atletico recorded a 2-0 home win, but the Rojiblancos were unable to build on that despite a promising start against Malaga.
The hosts went close first when Torres fired over from close range, but then visiting midfielder Raul Garcia headed a gilt-edged chance over from a corner after Malaga had left three Atletico players unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box.
That was in the sixth minute and Simao went even closer seven minutes later when he bravely threw himself at Sergio Aguero's cross to send a header goalwards that Malaga goalkeeper Gustavo Munua did brilliantly to tip onto the crossbar.
Simao suffered a sickening clash of heads with Patrick Mtiliga in that incident and the Malaga man, with blood pouring from his scalp, was unable to continue.
Just before the half-hour, Atletico coach Resino was sent to the stands by the referee, but his side continued to create the better chances and Aguero was denied by Munua after being put away by Diego Forlan.
It was Malaga who would break the deadlock though, and it was some goal as Manolo Gaspar's deep cross was volleyed back into the danger area by Duda where Baha sent an unstoppable bicycle kick into the far corner of the net.
That goal was all the separated the teams at the break, and Atletico came close to cancelling it out at the start of the second half when Cleber Santana's well-struck 25-yard shot was well stopped by Munua.
However, Atletico's attempted recovery suffered a huge blow in the 63rd minute when they conceded a soft second goal.
A deep free-kick found Albert Luque ghosting in unmarked at the far post, and although his header was pushed out by Asenjo, Manu was an hand to smash the ball home from close range.
Atletico had no response to that and their misery was made complete in the 89th minute when more non-existent marking allowed Torres to head Selim Benachour's corner into the roof of the net, making it happy homecoming for Malaga coach Juan Ramon Lopez Muniz following his return to the hotseat this summer.