Koke on song as Atletico thrash Malmo

Koke scored one goal and had a hand in three more as Atletico Madrid secured their biggest Champions League victory with a 5-0 drubbing of Swedish side Malmo in Group A on Wednesday.

Last season's beaten finalists struggled to convert overwhelming dominance into goals in the first period before Koke ran on to Arda Turan's clever dinked pass and fired into the corner three minutes after the break.

Mandzukic made it 2-0 in the 61st minute when he poked Koke’s low cross into the net, and Antoine Griezmann added a third two minutes later when he picked up a Koke pass and unleashed a powerful shot that looped up off Malmo goalkeeper Robin Olsen and into the net.

Diego Godin headed Koke's outswinging corner powerfully into the net three minutes from time and substitute Alessio Cerci completed a comfortable win for the La Liga champions when he lashed a shot into the corner in the third minute of added time.

Atletico, who were beaten 3-2 at Olympiakos Piraeus in their opening match and bounced back to down Juventus 1-0, were far too strong for Malmo, and the victory over the Swedish champions gives them a share of first place in the group, level on six points with Olympiakos.

The Greek side scored a surprise 1-0 home win over Italian champions Juventus, who have three points along with Malmo after three of six matches.

Atletico coach Diego Simeone fielded an attacking lineup on another festive night at the Calderon, and the home side created and squandered a string of first-half chances.

Griezmann smashed a shot against the underside of the crossbar in the 34th minute when it seemed easier to score and Arda fired narrowly wide when well placed four minutes before the break.

Atletico went into cruise control after their third goal, while Malmo came closest to scoring in the 76th minute when Markus Halsti flashed a shot just wide.

Atletico have won 19 of their last 21 matches at the Calderon in Uefa competition, their only defeat a 2-0 reverse to Rubin Kazan in the Europa League round of 32 in February 2013.

Last season, the La Liga champions won five and drew one of six home games en route to the final of Europe's elite club competition, where they were beaten 4-1 by Real Madrid after extra time.