Griezmann: Atletico ready for Champions League fight

Diego Simeone's men made it three wins on the spin in La Liga to close the gap on Real Madrid to two points and their French attacker is now thinking about conquering Europe.

Antoine Griezmann has warned Europe's top clubs that Atletico Madrid is gearing up to win the Champions League this season.

The Rojiblancos are playing catchup behind Barcelona and Real Madrid in the race to top La Liga but they made it three wins on the bounce courtesy of a 2-0 triumph over Real Sociedad on Tuesday.

Mikel Gonzalez's own goal put Diego Simeone's men ahead after just over 60 seconds of play at the Vicente Calderon before Griezmann doubled the lead 10 minutes in against the club he left for a reported 30 million euros last summer.

The France international says that Atleti has now got its confidence back ahead of next week's Champions League quarterfinal, first-leg clash with Real.

"Atletico are doing well again," the France international told reporters after the win, which left them two points shy of their city rivals in La Liga. "Now we have consistency we need to keep this form going.

"We're feeling strong, we know that with our third consecutive clean sheet we are giving ourselves more of a chance of winning.

"It is normal in a season to have ups and downs. Hopefully our dip has passed and we can go on to fight to win the Champions League."

Griezmann refrained from celebrating his goal out of respect for his former employers, explaining that he would have seen such behavior as in poor taste.

"Never will I celebrate against Real Sociedad," he added. "They gave me so much and the only reason I am standing here at Atletico is because of the work they did with me."

Atletico is still six points off Liga leader Barcelona, which - like Carlo Ancelotti's fellow title-chasers - plays its game in hand on Wednesday.

After traveling to Malaga on Saturday, Simeone's men host Real next Tuesday in what is a repeat of last season's Champions League final.
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Ronaldo scores five goals in one match for first time

The Portuguese attacker has been criticized for his lack of goal scoring in 2015 but smashed almost half a dozen past Granada in Real Madrid's 9-1 triumph on Sunday

Cristiano Ronaldo scored five goals in one match for the first time in his career as Real Madrid hammered Granada 9-1 on Sunday.

The Portugal international began his goal scoring spree at the Santiago Bernabeu after 30 minutes and scored a hat-trick in eight minutes in the first half, netting his final two strikes in the 54th and 89th minutes.

Ronaldo has scored four goals in a single game three times since joining the Blancos from Manchester United in 2009, most recently in September last year, but never before in the three-time Ballon d'Or winner's career has he bagged five efforts in 90 minutes.

His five-star performance against Granada, who are four points off the bottom of La Liga, leaves him level with Barcelona rival Lionel Messi in terms of hat-tricks in the Spanish top flight.

Ronaldo almost doubled his tally for goals in 2015 in La Liga (he now has 11 for the calendar year and 36 for the season in the Primera Division) and now sits eighth on the all-time list having overtaken former Real Madrid striker Pahino this weekend.

The 30-year-old will be delighted that he has scored four goals in a single game more than twice in a season for the first time in his professional career, while toppling his own record for his fastest hat-trick.

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Messi doubtful for Barca's clash vs. Celta Vigo due to foot injury

Barcelona striker Lionel Messi is rated doubtful for Sunday's Primera Division trip to Celta Vigo after failing to overcome a foot problem while on international duty with Argentina this week.

Messi sustained the injury two weeks ago when the Catalan club took on Manchester City in the Champions League and then La Liga rivals Real Madrid in the Clasico.

The 27-year-old forward sat out Argentina's 2-0 friendly victory over El Salvador on Saturday and was not risked in Tuesday night's 2-1 win over Ecuador as he returns to Spain still nursing his injured foot.

Argentina coach Gerardo Martino told www.afa.org.ar: "We waited until the last minute to see if he could play (as) I understand the expectation.

"But he was unable to (play) as he had a hard time putting on his boots, (as his foot) really hurts so we decided not to take a risk.

"I offer apologies to the people who came, eager to see him."

Messi's management ruled out any speculation it could be a serious injury as they told Marca: "If he had a bad injury he would have gone straight back to Barcelona, but it is true it is painful for him.

"When he gets back they will do tests on him to evaluate his condition."

Barcelona centerback Gerard Pique, meanwhile, hopes Messi will be available for Sunday's league match as Luis Enrique's side go in search of an eighth successive win in all competitions.

"I'm optimistic about Messi. I hope he can play in Vigo, but it will depend on how he's feeling," the former Manchester United defender tweeted.

La Liga leaders Barcelona are currently four points clear of second-placed Real ahead of this weekend's fixtures.

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