Atletico Madrid win ahead of Celtic test as Sparta Prague and PAOK fire big warnings to Rangers and Aberdeen

An Antoine-Griezmann inspired Atletico Madrid prepared for Wednesday’s Champions League trip to Celtic with a comfortable 3-0 win over Celta Vigo.

Antoine Griezmann scored a hat-trick for Atletico Madrid against Celta Vigo

Home goalkeeper Ivan Villar was sent off after 25 minutes for giving away a penalty but former Crystal Palace stopper Vicente Guaita was unable to thwart Griezmann from 12 yards. The Frenchman would go on to score twice more in the second half to complete his treble and pile the pressure on Celta boss Rafael Benitez.

"We are now thinking about Celtic," said Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone. "We expect a very difficult game on Wednesday. I want us to rest well ahead of the game in Glasgow because we put a lot of effort into this, especially Antoine Griezmann. We thought about resting him, but decided against it. We have always taken it game by game from the very first day I arrived here. And now we only think about Celtic."

Atletico do have injury concerns, however, over Brazilian winger Samuel Lino, who picked up a knee knock. "Samuel Lino took a heavy blow to the knee and will be assessed as soon as possible," added Sima. "I hope it's not a major injury. Although the scoreline looks comfortable, we must not forget that Celta made a very strong start. But the penalty and sending off changed the game. We controlled it after that."

Sparta Prague geared up for Thursday night’s Europa League match at home to Rangers with a comprehensive 4-0 win over Ceske Budejovie. Brian Priske’s men were in dominant form and were 2-0 up at the break thanks to goals from Kaan Kairinen and Jakub Pesek. Asger Sorensen netted just seconds after the restart to make it 3-0 and substitute Michal Sevcik wrapped things up to maintain Sparta’s two-point lead at the top of the Fortuna Liga.

In Greece, PAOK prepared for their trip to Aberdeen on Thursday in the Europa Conference League with a 2-0 win at home to Atromitos. Russian playmaker Magomed Ozdoev, who was given the green light to travel to the UK earlier this week, was the key man in Thessaloniki, scoring either side of the break. PAOK have only lost once all season and are in second place in the Super League, two points behind leaders Olympiacos.