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| Antoine Griezmann of Atletico Madrid celebrates 3-1 with Stefan Savic of Atletico Madrid, Axel Witsel of Atletico Madrid, Yannick Carrasco of Atletico Madrid, Memphis Depay of Atletico Madrid, Thomas Lemar of Atletico Madrid during the La Liga Santander match between Atletico Madrid v Sevilla at the Estadio Civitas Metropolitano on March 4, 2023 in Madrid Spain. |
Memphis Depay has scored twice in his first start for Atletico Madrid and sparked a 6-1 thrashing of Sevilla as Diego Simeone coached a club-record 613th game.
Atletico’s biggest win of the season lifted them above Real Sociedad and into third place in the Spanish league.
Simeone set a new club milestone by surpassing the previous mark of 612 games coached by Luis Aragones.
Since taking over in December 2011, the Argentine has led Atletico to two Spanish league titles, two Europa League crowns, a Copa del Rey trophy, as well as two Champions League finals.
Dressed in his customary all-black outfit, Simeone received a standing ovation before kickoff and then spent the match as he always has for the past decade, stalking the coaching box, pumping his fists to rev up the crowd.
Depay scored from a pass by Antoine Griezmann to get Atletico going in the 23rd. He added a second with a strike from outside the area three minutes later.
Depay joined Atletico from Barcelona in January after his playing time dwindled following the arrival of former Bayern Munich star Robert Lewandowski to Camp Nou.
Simeone gradually worked the Netherlands striker into his team’s rotation, using him as a second-half substitute until the struggling Sevilla came to town. Depay’s only previous goal for his new team earned them a 1-0 win at Celta Vigo last month.
Youssef En-Nesyri pulled one back after Pape Gueye chased down a ball and crossed it for his striker against the flow of play in the 39th, but Griezmann restored the two-goal cushion in the 53rd with an exquisite shot from long range into the top corner.
Yannick Carraso made it four for the hosts in the 69th.
Gueye again tried to get Sevilla back in the match after he won another ball and was fouled by Marcos Llorente. But Ivan Rakitic sent his penalty kick off the post.
Alvaro Morata, who replaced Depay, tacked on two goals, one coming after Sevilla were left with 10 men when Gueye was sent off for a second booking in the 80th.
