Twice runners-up Atletico Madrid suffer biggest loss in Europe since 2021 with 0-4 humbling at Benfica

Benfica’s Argentine forward Angel di Maria converts a penalty against Atletico Madrid in Lisbon on Wednesday. Pic/AFP

Atletico Madrid's 4-0 loss at Benfica in the Champions League was the team's worst defeat in Europe in three years, according to UEFA. Diego Simeone's team had lost by the same score to Bayern Munich in the group stage of Europe's top club competition in 2021.

The four-goal loss to Benfica is Atletico's joint-biggest margin of defeat in UEFA club competitions. It had previously lost by four goals five other times.
"From the start, it was really bad. We didn't play from the beginning until the end. They did a great job, they have a great team and they deserve to win. They did much more than us. Unfortunately for us, we lost 4-0 and it could have been more," Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak said.

Benfica's victory equalled the biggest winning margin by a Portuguese team against a Spanish one in a European Cup or Champions League. It also earned the other victory, beating Real Madrid 5-1 in February 1965.

Muhammed Kerem Akturkoglu opened the scoring (13th min) after which Angel Di Maria, Alexander Bah and Orkun Kokcu added second-half goals for the Portuguese club.

"They took advantage of all the mistakes we could have made, and the truth is that they deserved to win," Simeone said.

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