Saul scored shortly before the break to give Atletico Madrid a 1-0 half-time lead over Deportivo la Coruna in their La Liga match this morning.

The home side came within a couple of inches of an opening goal less than 10 minutes into the match when Koke delivered the ball for Mario Mandzukic, but the Croatian's header came back off the post.

Atletico continued to look the more likely as Arda Turan made a run down the right before crossing for Antoine Griezmann, who could not stretch enough to turn the ball in.

Cezary Wilk and Jose Rodriguez both tried their luck from distance in a bid to get the visitors back on level terms, but they both had their shots blocked.

The Spanish champions got the breakthrough on the stroke of the interval when Koke's swinging free kick was flicked on by Mandzukic for Saul to head in at the far post.