Griezmann whets appetite to leave Brighton buzzing

THERE is a wonderful buzz around Brighton ahead of their first top-flight campaign in 34 years, and a glamour friendly defeat against Atletico Madrid was never going to dampen the excitement.

The 31,000-seat Amex Stadium was a near sell- out — compare that to Tottenham who could only muster around 20,000 at Wembley Stadium for their friendly against Juventus on Saturday.

It felt like the whole of Brighton would have squeezed into the place to see this one, if possible.

The match warranted the interest, as Brighton twice came back from a goal down before Lucas Hernandez scored a late winner.

Atletico’s French superstar Antoine Griezmann — wearing an Alice band to hold back his long, floppy peroxide blond hair, like an early 2000s David Beckham — sent an early free-kick into the arms of keeper Mathew Ryan and chants of ‘ Who are you?’ came from behind the goal.

Brighton will have to get used to defending for most of the game during the coming season and this was an appropriate test as they prepare for a Premier League opener against Manchester City on Saturday. Atletico have reached two of the last four Champions League finals and their success has been built on perhaps the meanest defence in Europe.

Chris Hughton will be encouraged, then, that his side managed to breach the Spaniards’ lines twice.

Atletico midfielder Nicolas Gaitan opened the scoring but then put the ball in his own net via a free-kick from Pascal Gross, Brighton’s first signing of the summer from Ingolstadt.

Former Chelsea and Liverpool striker Fernando Torres put the 2014 La Liga champions ahead again, but Steve Sidwell equalised, nodding home from Solly March’s cross.

Lucas’s late winner was not enough to mar a great occasion at the Amex — and there will be many more for Brighton to enjoy over the coming season. JURGEN KLOPP has banned talk of the Champions League to ensure Liverpool are not distracted for the opening of the new Premier League campaign. Though Liverpool begin the League season at Watford on Saturday, the focus on Merseyside is on the play-off with Hoffenheim, the first leg of which is three days later. ‘We go to Watford and I don’t know what we could do there to disappoint,’ said Klopp, the manager, whose side beat Athletic Bilbao 3-1 at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday. ‘You can’t measure the importance of it. ‘Some things could happen that we can’t avoid but we could leave players behind and they could slip in the kitchen. ‘You can’t do this (prioritise). Maybe Watford will think we don’t have that mind-set. It’s my job to make sure it does not happen.’