Atletico Madrid have taken a comfortable 3-0 lead into the half-time interval after dominating the opening 45 minutes against Almeria.

Diego Simeone's side were given the chance to take an early lead when Mauro dos Santos was adjudged to have pulled down Diego Godin inside the box.

© Getty Images

Mario Mandzukic took on the responsibility from 12 yards and, despite the long protests from Almeria, the Croatian held his nerve to slot home the penalty.

Their lead was doubled seven minutes later when Mandzukic was gifted the space to pick out Antoine Griezmann, who was afforded the time to pick out the bottom corner.

Atletico's front two were a constant threat to the Almeria defence and they linked up again for the third goal as Griezmann collected Mandzukic's cushioned header before turning and beating Julian for the second time.

Written by
Callum Mulvihill