Atletico took an early lead thanks to a moment to forget for Rober. Gameiro was released in behind the Levante defence and tried to square for Angel Correa, but before the ball could reach him the Levante defender inexplicably put the ball in his own net.

Midway through the half, Atletico came close to doubling their lead. Griezmann drove at the Levante defence and played in Gameiro, but his effort on goal was well pushed away by Oier Olazaba, with Koke sending the rebound wide.

‘Los Rojiblancos’ did, however, net their second just before the half-hour mark following more questionable defending from the home side. Koke played a delightful through ball into the path of Correa, who beat Olazabal before taking aim at an empty net. Chema looked to be in a position to clear the danger but instead of thumping the ball away from goal, he somehow managed to stop it stone dead, allowing Gameiro to easily tap in.

Atletico didn’t let up after the break and scored goals three, four and five in the space of nine minutes. On 59 minutes Griezmann picked up the ball in midfield and expertly fizzed a pass in behind the Levante defence to Gameiro, who made no mistake and poked past Olazabal at the near post.

Then, six minutes later, goalscorer turned provider as Gameiro drove at the Levante back line before fizzing a ball across goal for Griezmann to tap in on the stretch.

And finally, after a swift break from the visitors, Gameiro saw a shot parried by Olazabal but only into the path of Griezmann, who tucked home his second goal in three minutes.

Levante did have a late chance to pull one back when Nano latched onto Cheick Doukoure’s long ball, but his fierce left-footed drive narrowly missed the target.

The thumping win sees Atletico move level on points with city rivals Real Madrid (27) in La Liga, while Levante remain in 13th place with 15 points.

Rober Pier

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