Madrid, Oct 1 (IANS): Atletico Madrid's disappointing start to the season continued as they slipped to a 2-1 Champions league defeat at home to Benfica.

Atletico went into the game on Wednesday on the back of a 1-0 defeat in Villarreal and again were below their best on a disappointing night for fans in the Vicente Calderon Stadium, Xinhua reported.

Angel Correa gave Atletico the lead midway through the first half as the striker took advantage of his start following several impressive appearances as a substitute.

Correa scored put a right foot shot into the top corner following an assist from Antoine Griezmann.

Atletico were close to doubling their lead as Jackson Martinez hit the post, but Benfica were level before the break when Nocolas Gaitan fired a powerful left across Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak in the 36th minute.

Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 500th and 501st goals of his career as Real Madrid defeated Malmo 2-0 in Sweden.

Ronaldo scored his goal in the 28th minute of the game but his side were unable to add more until the last minute of the game, despite rarely being in trouble and even less so after Malmo's, Victor Yotun was sent off with 10 minutes remaining.

Ronaldo netted his second of the night in the last minute: a goal which saw him equal Raul Gonzalez as his club's maximum goal-scorer of all time.