Atletico ease past Leverkusen 4-2 to take control of tie

Football Soccer - Bayer Leverkusen v Atletico Madrid - UEFA Champions League Round of 16 First Leg - BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany - 21/2/17 Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann celebrates scoring their second goal with Koke and teammates Reuters / Wolfgang Rattay Livepic

LEVERKUSEN, Germany (Reuters) - Atletico Madrid beat hosts Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 in a topsy-turvy encounter on Tuesday to take a firm handle on their Champions League round-of-16 tie ahead of the return leg in Spain next month.

Two lethal counter-attacks in the opening 25 minutes put the 2014 and 2016 finalists in the driving seat, with Saul Niguez and Antoine Griezmann on target, and gave them the edge for a quarter-final spot for the ninth time.