Atletico Madrid vs. Sevilla: Winners and Losers from La Liga Game

In easily their most impressive performance of the season, Atletico Madrid defeated Sevilla 4-0 at the Vicente Calderon on Saturday in Diego Simeone's return to the dugout. 

After edging past Almeria on Wednesday, the defending Spanish champions recaptured some of last season's finest form, disposing of Unai Emery's side in emphatic fashion. 

Koke opened the scoring for the home side, benefitting from a huge deflection off Nico Pareja that helped to beat the visitors' goalkeeper, Beto. 

A copybook set piece straight from the training ground that was headed home by Saul Niguez then doubled the home-side's advantage, before late goals from Raul Garcia and Raul Jimenez sealed a comfortable victory for Atletico. 

Across the following slides, we examine the winners and losers from Saturday's clash.

Winner: Arda Turan

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Arda Turan enjoyed a superb evening against Sevilla on Saturday, operating as his team's most creative midfielder in an emphatic 4-0 victory.

Deployed far wider than usual, the Turk adjusted quickly to an altered role, linking up with Simeone's forwards from his position on the right in a formation that drifted toward a 4-1-4-1. 

Excellent in Atletico's triumphant 2013-14 campaign, Turan's capacity to impact a match consistently across 90 minutes had been questioned in the early weeks of the new season.

On Saturday against Sevilla, Turan squashed those doubts with a fine display.

Loser: Diogo Figueiras

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It was a tough outing for Sevilla's defence against Atletico Madrid on Saturday, and no one suffered more than Diogo Figueiras. 

Occupying the right-back position, the Portuguese couldn't quell the home-side's attacks led by Koke and Cristian Ansaldi down the left-hand side, seeing the visitors' penalty area engulfed in a barrage of threatening crosses. 

Figueiras was also responsible for the penalty that resulted in Atleti's third goal, when his reckless challenge on Antoine Griezmann gifted Raul Garcia a spot-kick in the 83rd minute.

Winner: Raul Jimenez

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After completing a €10 million move from Club America, Raul Jimenez had really struggled in the opening stages of his career at Atletico Madrid. 

Brought to the Vicente Calderon to bolster the team's attack following the departure of Diego Costa, the Mexican had failed to impress prior to Saturday's clash with Sevilla, drawing extra attention from fans due to his previous affection for Real Madrid, as noted by Goal's Ben Hayward. 

But the 23-year-old managed to secure his first goal for Atleti against Unai Emery's men, heading home Koke's free-kick to open his account in the Spanish capital and to ease the pressure on himself in the process.

Loser: Unai Emery

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Knowing it's coming is one thing. Stopping it is another entirely. 

But after Atletico Madrid scored another pair of goals from set pieces against Sevilla on Saturday, it's hard to shake the sense that Emery wasn't able to conjure a method to quell the home-side's lethal skills from dead-ball situations. 

Both Atleti's second and fourth goals were the result of set pieces, the first of which was an exquisite move taken straight from the training ground. 

And given that Gabi almost doubled his team's advantage from a corner in the first half as well, it seems Emery was the latest in a long line of opposing managers to fail to develop a method to counter Atletico's most obvious strength.

Winner: Diego Simeone

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Returning to the dugout after serving his ban for misconduct in the Spanish Super Cup against Real Madrid, Simeone's presence on the sideline added something to Atletico Madrid on Saturday. 

Across Europe, no manager has quite the same impact on both his players and fans as the Argentinian, with his ability to whip the crowd at the Vicente Calderon into a frenzy still, playing a key part in Atleti's dominance at home. 

In his absence, German Burgos had taken his place in front of the bench, but Simeone's return coincided with a significant increase in ferocity from Atletico, illustrating the impact the manager has on his team.