Last Tuesday, Antoine Griezmann managed to equal Luis Aragonés’ goals record (173 goals) with Atlético de Madrid. A feat achieved in 7 and a half seasons and 363 matches while it took “Sabio de Hortaleza” (The Sage of Hortaleza) 11 seasons and 370 matches to reach such a figure.
Glorified by an entire club and an entire country, the Frenchman nevertheless had bittersweet happiness, spoiled by the comeback in the last five minutes of Getafe (3-3), despite his double. “I’m happy to equal Luis’ record. It’s a lot of joy and pride even if I will never be as good as him and a legend like him, he declared on Tuesday. But I’m disappointed to have missed the three points. To find a smile again, to be alone on the first step of the podium of Atlético’s top scorers, to erase a 49-year-old record and to definitively enter the legend of the Madrid club, Griezmann has the opportunity to make up for it, this Saturday evening against Sevilla FC, in a late match on the 4th day of La Liga.
Overtake Barça
Beyond this personal best, his team is counting on its top scorer (16 goals in all competitions) to overtake FC Barcelona in the standings and reverse a negative spiral with one point taken in two matches and five goals conceded. “He is someone very important for us,” said his coach, Diego Simeone, on Tuesday. We have to continue to take care of him because we need this kind of footballer to grow.” And resume his march forward.