Atletico Madrid took a big step toward the last 16 of the Champions League after smashing a disappointing Astana side 4-0 at the Vicente Calderon this evening.

First-half goals from Saul Niguez and Jackson Martinez helped the hosts into a 2-0 half-time lead, before Oliver Torres added an excellent third after the hour mark.

Denys Dedechko added a fourth via an own goal late on to put gloss on what was Atletico's second victory in Group C, having lost to Benfica on matchday two of the competition.

Here, Sports Mole analyses who excelled in the Spanish capital.

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Goal

Jan Oblak: Did not have a meaningful save to make. (6/10)

Defence

Juanfran: Very little to do by way of defending, but did not contribute much to attack either. Also fortunate to avoid serious injury following a Akhmetov challenge in the second half. (5/10)

Stefan Savic: Had precious little to do, though he did gift Astana their first and only chance in the clash following a moment of indecision in the second half. (6/10)

Diego Godin: Duly untested for virtually the entire match. (6/10)

Guilherme Siqueira: Tormented Astana down the left-hand side but his end product could and should have been a little better. (5/10)

Midfield

Yannick Carrasco: Probably man of the match as the former AS Monaco man proved a menace for Astana's wide men in both halves. Bagged an assist, but should have added a goal too after missing a good chance in the second half. (8/10)

Gabi: Sat well with Tiago in midfield, and stole the ball and created the counter-attack which led to Atletico's third of the night. Excellent shift. (7/10)

Tiago: Hooked off at the break. Did precious little wrong, but he was not as penetrative as he perhaps could and should have been. (6/10)

Saul Niguez: Took his goal brilliantly to open the scoring and menaced for the rest of the encounter. His decision making in the final third looked rather suspect, however. (7/10)

Attack

Antoine Griezmann: Relatively subdued by his own sky-high standards, and the Frenchman was hooked off on 58 minutes for Correra. (5/10)

Jackson Martinez: Scored a decent goal, but could have finished with a hat-trick on another night after missing a few gilt-edged headers in the first half. Replaced by Torres midway through the second period. (6/10)

Substitutes

Oliver Torres: Added a wonderful third goal for the hosts after replacing Tiago at the break. (7/10)

Angel Correa: Should have had at least one assist to be proud of, but Torres fluffed two excellent opportunities following his through balls. (6/10)

Fernando Torres: Spurned a few fine chances to secure his 100th goal for the Rojiblancos after replacing Martinez. (5/10)

Goal

Nenad Erić: Flapped at quite a few crosses and looked far from assured between the sticks. Made some smart saves too, though. (5/10)

Defence

Abzal Beysebekov: The most right-sided of Astana's three centre-halves, Beysebekov was cruelly exposed on a number of occasions, with Carrasco and Siqueira dominating him in both halves. (3/10)

Branko Ilić: Found himself in no-man's land for Saul's opener and overall looked rather unfit as Griezmann gave him the run-around. (4/10)

Denys Dedechko: The midfielder was asked to take up an unfamiliar defensive role, and it showed. He is no centre-back and his manager threw him into the deep end against the movement of Martinez and Griezmann. (3/10)

Evgeni Postnikov: Read the game a little better than his defensive teammates, but struggled with the movement of Martinez. (5/10)

Yeldos Akhmetov: Perhaps somewhat fortunate to stay on the field after going through studs-up on Juanfran early in the second half. (4/10)

Midfield

Aleksei Schetkin: Effectively operated as a right-back and struggled to contain the lively Siqueira in both halves. (4/10)

Georgi Zhukov: Easily Astana's best players on the night, with the midfielder sitting in front of his back four brilliantly well and snuffed out quite a few Atletico counter-attacks. (7/10)

Serikzhan Muzhikov: Asked to play in a more withdrawn role and Muzhikov - usually a striker - struggled to say the least. (4/10)

Foxi Kéthévoama: Astana's apparent danger man was more of a threat to his own team tonight. One or two hopeful shots from range, but lost the run of Carrasco in the build-up to the opener. (4/10)

Attack

Junior Kabananga: Astana's spearhead as about as much of a spectator as any fan inside the Vicente Calderon by virtue of Atletico's dominance. (4/10)

Written by
Shane Callaghan