Atletico Madrid put the memory of two recent Champions League final losses to bed with a 2-0 Europa League win in the final against Marseille where Antoine Griezmann was the hero.
Atleti were looking for their third win in the competition in the last ten years after dropping out of the Champions League earlier this season, a competition they've twiced reached the final of in recent years.
For Marseille they were looking to win their first Europa League having been beaten finalists in 1999 and 2004, when the competition was still the UEFA Cup.
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Spanish sides have rather dominated the competition in recent years. As well as Atleti's two win, in which one was against Athletic Bilbao in the final, Sevilla had won it five times since 2006 and Valencia won in 2004.
No French side had ever won the competition as the Europa League or UEFA Cup and Marseille needed to beat the odds to change that bit of history.
After just three and a half minutes the French side should have been ahead. On the counter Dimitri Payet found Valère Germain in the box, free and away in the clear but the Frenchman put the ball over the bar.
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Marseille seemed to have the running of things in the first 20 minutes but the last thing you do against Atleti is give them a chance. Zambo Anguissia's poor touch gave the ball to the Spaniards and Antoine Griezmann was played through and he slotted the ball past Steve Mandanda to make it 1-0.
On the half hour mark more disaster for Marseille. Dimitri Payet, who was running the show for them from midfield, had to be replaced due to injury. The captain was in tears as he came off.
The injury put paid to any momentum Marseille had but they managed to see out the first half only one behind.
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However the second half kicked off with Atleti now in charge and just four minutes into the half Koke came forward and played a ball into Griezmann who strolled into the area and dinked the ball over a prone Mandanda to make it 2-0.
Atleti controlled the game for most of the second half in typical fashion but on 80 minutes forward Konstantinos Mitroglou rose from a cross and headed goal wards but the ball hit the inside of the post and went clear.
With just two minutes to go it really was all over. Griezmann played a brilliant ball from the outside of his boot on halfway which found Diego Costa in the box, he played it back to Koke who passed across the area to Gabi who slotted home for 3-0.
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Fernando Torres came on to much applause, replacing Griezmann, for what might be his final match for his hometown club.
Diego Simone's side are worthy winners of the 2018 Europa League.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Marseille, Football News, Europa League, Atletico Madrid, Champions League
