Valladolid 0-4 Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid produced the perfect reaction to their midweek cup defeat with an impressive victory at Valladolid.

Atletico went down 3-0 at Second Division Recreativo Huelva in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday night and have been hugely criticised for that result, despite playing most of the match with 10 men.

Coach Quique Sanchez Flores was furious with his team and said he will look for a new group of players that will not let him down.

But there was no time to change too much before this match, just three days later.

Atletico looked a completely different side, though, and took control of the match within half an hour, thanks to goals from Jose Manuel Jurado and Diego Forlan, before Jose Antonio Reyes wrapped up a fine win with a third 13 minutes into the second half and substitute Sergio Aguero added a fourth at the death.

Sanchez Flores began with what looked like a defensive-minded 4-2-3-1 formation, with Forlan alone up front and Aguero left on the bench.

But with Jurado, Reyes and Simao Sabrosa probing directly behind the Uruguay striker, Atletico were a constant threat early on.

And after visiting keeper Sergio Asenjo had saved comfortably from Nivaldo's fourth minute header, it was all Atletico.

The visitors went ahead with their first clear-cut opportunity, after 16 minutes.

Juan Valera's excellent pass set up Reyes in space and the former Arsenal man neatly picked out the advancing Jurado, who swept his effort past an exposed Justo Villar from close range to give Atletico the lead.

There was a lull in proceedings after that as Valladolid managed to stifle the visitors' neat passing game for a while, but it was practically over as a contest after 31 minutes.

Raul Garcia stole the ball from the careless Diego Costa in midfield and sent a searching ball through to Forlan, who got ahead of his marker to finish with aplomb and put Atletico in control.

At the other end, Asenjo was almost fooled by Pele's long-range effort, which took an awkward bounce just in front of him, but the former Valladolid keeper got down to deny his former club.

Reyes blasted over shortly after the break, but made amends in spectacular style 10 minutes later, when he rifled a blistering left-footed drive past the helpless Villar to put the visitors three up.

Simao almost added a fourth late on after both sides had missed half chances, but the Portugal winger shot straight at Villar from close range when it looked easier to score.

By that stage, Aguero had replaced Forlan and the Argentina striker put the icing on the cake of a fine victory with Atletico's fourth goal a minute from time, when he controlled neatly and beat Villar with a clinical left-footed drive.

Atletico remain in the bottom half, but now have a respectable 20 points, while Valladolid sit provisionally three points clear of the relegation zone after 17 games.