Spanish striker and now returning hero Fernando Torres was not able to play for Atletico Madrid against Levante. The 30 year old striker was forced to watch on the stands as he was not yet eligible to play. He has to wait until the Italian transfer window will open on Monday before he can play for Atletico. Torres was on loan back to Atletico Madrid from his Italian club AC Milan.
The match against lowly club Levante ended 3-1. Antoine Griezmann opened the goal fest with a wonderful header with 17:29 on the clock; Griermann's goal was the only goal for the first half.
Griezmann scored another header with just 1:49 on the second half. Levante's only goal came via Nabil El Zhar's left footer shot on the 61st minute. The third Atletico goal was brought in by another beautiful header from the Uruguayan defender Diego Godin. With Godin's headed, Atletico has already scored 21 goals all from set pieces for this season. That tops any other club in the top five European leagues. The game however has had several bookings. Both teams have had players booked. Altetico Madrid's Rual Garcia and Mandzukic were booked and Levante's Garcia Garcia, Diop and Sissoko were also booked.
The current Spanish champions are just one point away from the league's number one team, Real Madrid. Atletico is currently tied Barcelona both with 38 points, although there is a massive difference in goal difference. Real Madrid, the league leader, has 39 points.
When asked about their team performance, Atletico center -back answered "We should have fishined off the game in the first half but we did not pressurize enough. My goal calmed us down as we had become nervous after conceding. It was important for us to finish the year winning and also start with another victory."
