Antoine Griezmann and Brazilian midfielder Lono scored in the first half and second half, respectively, to help Atletico Madrid secure a 2-0 victory over Lazio, which sealed the top-of-the-table spot ahead of the Italians.

Both Atletico Madrid and Lazio had qualified for the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League before Wednesday’s game, but there was still a need to identify who would go into the knockout stage as group winners and who would go into the knockout stage as second.

Atletico Madrid’s opening goal came around the 6th minute mark before the second goal came in the 51st minute of the game. Lazio did little to put the pressure on Atletico Madrid, who were one point ahead of the Italians before the game.

Diego Simeone’s side will face Athletic Club at the weekend away from home in La Liga as they look to close the gap between themselves and table-topping Girona. The surprise packages now have 7 points ahead of Atletico Madrid in third.

All eyes will now be on the round of 16 draws, which will happen on Monday with four La Liga teams qualifying for the knockout stage. Real Madrid, Barcelona Real Sociedad, and Atletico Madrid all successfully navigated their groups to qualify for the knockout.

The draws will pit group winners against teams who finished second. However, teams who share the same group in the group stage will not be paired, nor will clubs from the same countries.

When the draws are done, the first legs will be played on 13/14/20/21 February and the second legs on 5/6/12/13 March 2024.

Group winners:

Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Man City, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad.

Runners-up: 

FC Copenhagen, Inter Milan, Lazio, RB Leipzig, Napoli, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto, PSV Eindhoven.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu