Griezmann on mission to fulfil his Champions League dream
Atletico ace is out to make amends for last year’s near miss, writes in Madrid
On Antoine Griezmann’s forearm there is a tattoo in Arabic. It is a quote from his namesake, and fellow Frenchman, the writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and reads: “Make your life a dream, and make your dream a reality.”
The dream for Griezmann – and Atlético Madrid – is to win the Champions League. And the most coveted forward in football right now, wanted by a host of clubs, led by Manchester United, who are prepared to trigger a €100million (£85million) release clause in his contract, is determined to do that before he leaves.
Having lost two finals in the past three seasons, two Madrid derbies, at that, in painful circumstances, then Atlético are more driven than ever to win this competition and, having come through one of the hardest groups, they were even prepared to sacrifice their league form in the pursuit. Ominously for Leicester, they have recovered.
In that group Atlético finished ahead of Bayern Munich and won five matches, despite scoring only seven goals, and conceded just two. That is some efficiency, which coach Diego Simeone pointed to last night when he said of this tie: “I cannot really picture a game with many goals, given the characteristics of both teams.”
But if anyone can make the difference, he knows it is Griezmann, who has already scored 23 goals – four in the Champions League – to add to 32 last season and 25 in the campaign before, when he made his breakthrough to become a regular starter. “He puts everything away,” Simeone says of Griezmann and, while that is not quite true – his penalty miss in the Champions League final in Milan last season still haunts him – he has become the complete forward, and one driven to achieve more.
It is odd that at this blue-collar Spanish club the talisman is a fresh-faced, relatively slight 26-year-old with a Germanic surname and Portuguese roots, who made his name with a club from the Basque country, Real Sociedad, and whose career has been heavily influenced by Uruguay, to such an extent that he carries a flask of Mate, the bitter tea so loved by the likes of Luis Suárez, on whom he has modelled his game to some degree.
If it was coach Martin Lasarte, a Uruguayan, who picked him out at La Real, having also given Suárez his debut when he was at Nacional, then it is an Argentine to whom Griezmann owes the world: Simeone.
Their fortunes have become so intertwined that any utterance Simeone makes on Griezmann’s future is analysed and reanalysed, to dissect how much longer both plan to remain at Atlético, with the added dimension of the club moving into a new 68,000-seat stadium next season.
Selling Griezmann before that move is difficult for the club to explain to the fans, although a bid of €100 million, as long as the cash is ploughed back into the team, would make it easier. Interestingly, though, Atlético are attempting to renegotiate and extend Griezmann’s present deal, which could impose an even higher release clause.
At the same time, Griezmann has sent out mixed messages on whether he will stay or go, which is the usual kind of blather that comes with players of such high profile (he is good friends with Paul Pogba, after all) and, while Atlético maintain they will not sell, they are also lining up replacements – such as Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette – although that is complicated by Fifa’s transfer ban.
Simeone has been unequivocal as to how highly he regards Griezmann. “Now he is among the three best players in the world,” he said before last season’s Champions League final – and he has developed further since then. Griezmann was on the Ballon d’Or podium behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi earlier this year.
Neither is he lacking in confidence, having compared his style of play to Messi. He is the complete package and, while he does not possess Messi’s skill, of course, he does have the ability to drop off to link the play as well as the pace to get in behind; and can go up against physical defenders and win aerial duels despite being 5ft 8in.
Griezmann has developed his heading, learning how South American strikers adapt to become better, and worked hard on the defensive side of his game, which is non-negotiable with Simeone as his coach. Will the two be together next season? It remains to be seen. But, right now, Atlético’s Little Prince is the biggest threat Leicester City face.