Following his record-breaking 174th Atletico Madrid goal, we assess how Antoine Griezmann, La Liga’s best player of 2023, won back the crowd to become a club legend
Wednesday 10 January 2024 23:43, UK
Over in Riyadh, Antoine Griezmann is breaking a record. A neat turn with his left foot leaves one Real Madrid marker on the ground and another trailing in his wake. A fierce shot with his right foot sees the ball fly into the bottom corner of the net.
Ultimately, Real Madrid came from behind twice to win a thrilling Spanish Super Cup semi-final by five goals to three after extra time. Griezmann goes into the Atletico Madrid history books, nevertheless. His redemption in red and white is now complete.
It was he who also scored the first ever goal at the Metropolitano Stadium. "It was not just any goal," he said at the time. Nor was this one. The goal that made it 174 for Atletico, breaking the record set by Luis Aragones almost half a century ago.
There is a statue of Aragones outside the Metropolitano. There was a time when any hope of Griezmann being honoured in the same way seemed long gone. Even the small plaque to mark every player who has made 100 appearances for the club appeared out of place.
It was trashed upon his return with Barcelona. A trio of toy rats marked the spot, signifying the strength of feeling against him. Inside the stadium, there was a banner questioning his manhood. The chants from the Atletico fans were less savoury than that.
Griezmann came through it. Resistance dissipated when he returned. Contrition was clear, work ethic unwavering. And besides, Atletico still won a title without him. Despite signing him twice, they have managed to make a profit on their record scorer too.
Memories have been made as well. His recent goal in the 1-0 win over Mallorca was the record 25th occasion in which Griezmann had scored the only goal of a game in La Liga. It speaks to how decisive his interventions have become under Diego Simeone.
"With him, there is always something special that can appear at any moment in the match," says Simeone himself. Given a free role - as free as any player can possibly be in a Simeone side - Griezmann has flourished without being seen to take too many liberties.
He still harries, covering the kilometres. That is non-negotiable. But it has been in him since the start. Lyon told him that he was too small when just a boy. Everything since has been an exercise in displaying his robustness, proving that he can handle the physicality.
He would have thrived anywhere.
To do so at Simeone's Atletico brings additional pride.
As Jose Luis Caminero, the man who first signed him for Atletico, put it: "He is a player willing to sacrifice himself for the team when it is needed and work on defensive tasks too, something that makes him different from the rest of the world's greatest players."
A very Atletico Galactico.
As such, it is appropriate that even second time around, the struggle came before the success. Upon being loaned back to Atletico, the dispute over his transfer fee led to his minutes being restricted. He was on the bench for the first seven games of last season.
At that stage, all this looked anything but inevitable. "Many, many, thought otherwise," Simeone pointed out. But Griezmann is playing the best football of a career that won him the World Cup half a dozen years ago and a nine-figure move to Barcelona after that.
Griezmann was the outstanding player in Spanish football in 2023 - and it was not close. The gulf between him and the rest is best illustrated by the fact that he was not only the top scorer in La Liga in the calendar year but he was also top of the assists list too.
Griezmann was involved in 34 Atletico goals, nine more than nearest rival Robert Lewandowski. Nobody else managed more than 20. But even those numbers do not do justice to his contribution. Compare the number of big chances created to the rest in 2023.
He is scorer and creator, prompter in chief.
He has found himself again. At Barcelona, that was impossible in the shadow of Lionel Messi. Forced to find a new position, do things that did not suit his own strengths in servitude to the team, he managed to make a role for himself, but it was not his own.
Here, and with Messi gone, he has established himself as the main man not just at Atletico but perhaps in the competition. "When he plays well, the team hits another level," Simeone explains. "He allows us to have more options to transition from defence to attack."
This goal was just the latest example of that. It came, just as the record-equalling effort against Getafe did last month, with a caveat. Two late goals to deny him the glory, meaning that the celebrations were curtailed. How appropriately Atletico is that.
This path has not been perfect. Twice, Griezmann has joined Atletico as champions but he has never won La Liga with them. Maybe that is more fitting. The struggle is all part of it with Atletico. And Griezmann is back, striving against those royal rivals, leading the fight.
The man whose Atletico career might have ended in ignominy but for his own determination to return has forged another legacy, turned the page on another tale. On the promenade of legends, a plaque no longer feels enough. Antoine Griezmann's status is finally assured.
