Atlético Madrid 1-0 Botafogo: Simeone’s men crash out of Club World Cup despite victory | OneFootball

A victory against Botafogo at the Rose Bowl was not enough for European giants Atlético Madrid, who were eliminated from the FIFA Club World Cup on Monday evening.

Due to PSG beating Seattle Sounders, Diego Simone’s side were set an uphill task of needing to score four goals against Botafogo, who ultimately finished second in group B.

Botafogo are now into the last 16 of the competition.

Chances were few and far between for either side in the fixture, but it was Antoine Griezmann who did eventually find the back of the net for Atléti.

As it happened

In the early exchanges, Jan Oblak made a superb one-on-one save against the onrushing Jefferson Savarino.

Moments later, Artur’s long-range effort took a heavy deflected which caused the ball to dip with pace and for a moment had Oblak worried, however the strike narrowly missed the target.

Atlético Madrid were patient in their build-up when they did advance forward, but Botafogo proved to be incredibly dangerous on the counter attack.

Alexander Barboza made a crucial last-minute challenge to deny Julián Alvarez towards the end of the first-half as Los Colchoneros started to find their feet in the fixture.

Alvarez was heavily involved moments later and for his standards, should’ve found the bottom corner, but his snapshot was dragged wide of the target.

Diego Simeone’s side needed four goals against the Brazilian outfit to stand a chance of Club World Cup glory, prompting the introduction of club record goal-scorer Griezmann for the second-half.

Alexander Sørloth had Atléti’s best chance of the game thus far, but failed to guide his flicked header on target.

The Brazilian side continued to show their worth when Igor Jesus forced Oblak into an athletic save in the 66th minute.

In the closing stages, Griezmann continued to be an inspiration to his teammates when he tapped in from close-range – but it was too little, too late for the Spanish side, with their Club World Cup journey coming to a premature ending in Pasadena.

The lineups

ATM: Oblak, Llorente, Le Normand, Lenglet, Galán; Simeone, De Paul, Barrios, Gallagher; Sørloth, Alvarez