One person stands out from the Atletico Madrid team: French world champion Antoine Griezmann is the most important player for Borussia Dortmund’s opponents.
Diego Simeone is not someone who stands out at press conferences with enlightening policy statements. The coach, who has worked for Atletico Madrid since 2011, drags himself through the mandatory appointments rather dutifully – as if he were saving his energy for appearances on the sidelines.
In the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund (2-1), the impulsive Atletico coach clashed with BVB sports director Sebastian Kehl, among others. But for the verbal lead-up to the second leg in Dortmund (from 9 p.m. in the audio stream and live ticker of the Sportschau) Simeone was once again tame in Dortmund. “We will face a team that is very strong. But we will try to hurt them.”
From 9 p.m.: Live ticker BVB – Atletico arrow right quarter-finals arrow right
Diego Simeone ennobles the Frenchman
It sounded like the familiar mix of respect and confidence that the 53-year-old spread: “I have a good feeling. We will play a good game and have grown extremely in the last few weeks.” He also made no secret of who should ensure reaching the semi-finals – it would be the third in his term in office: Antoine Griezmann. The difference player in Atletico’s ranks.
“We need Griezmann in this form, he is our most important player, he has a lot of talent and makes all his teammates better,” enthused Simeone again on Saturday (April 13th, 2024). In the 3-1 win against third-placed FC Girona, the French world champion scored a brace and now has 13 goals this season. Just as many as Robert Lewandowski from FC Barcelona, although Griezmann is more of a hanging front and likes to serve Atletico striker Alvaro Morata (14 goals this season).
A special feeling
Griezmann is the one who, to the delight of the supporters in the Metropolitana, sprinkles in the creative moments when the collective otherwise works with a lot of verve against the ball. It’s not just his feints, his technique and his understanding of the game that make the 1.76 meter tall offensive expert exceptional. The 33-year-old has a special instinct for spotting and using free spaces; He provides the link between midfield and attack that is difficult for opponents to grasp.
This is no different in the club than in the national team. A month ago, it was hardly surprising for national coach Didier Deschamps that France’s team performed rather disappointingly in the friendly against Germany (0-2) and superstar Kylian Mbappé seemed almost lost: with Griezmann suffering from an ankle sprain, he was missing the same key player, Simeone so appreciated.
As of March 23, he had played 84 consecutive international matches
On that Friday evening of March 23rd in Lyon, an astonishing series broke. After a friendly match against England on June 13, 2017, in which Griezmann was not used as a reserve player, he had played an impressive 84 international matches in a row and shone with consistency under Deschamps for half a decade.
The national coach rotated every now and then, but his number seven always played. Because it’s always good for a surprise. Also with the hairstyles. In his omnipresence for the French, Griezmann appeared in ever-changing haircuts. Sometimes short and straight, sometimes long and curly, sometimes with a ponytail, sometimes with pigtails – and sometimes colored pink.
The best man in the 2018 World Cup final
However, his footballing condition was much more important: Griezmann was in top form at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, as well as at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He will never forget how he almost single-handedly decided the World Cup final between France and Croatia (4:2) almost six years ago. Griezmann brought the ball home with a free kick that Mario Mandzukic headed into his own net Blues first took the lead, converted a hand penalty and then provided the preparatory work for Paul Pogba’s third goal.
It was not Mbappé, but Griezmann who was named player of the match in Moscow. The influence of the 127-time national player (44 goals) for the Equipe Tricolore is often underestimated. Griezmann, a father of three children, not only needs the trust of a coach but also a position in which he can play to his strengths. This doesn’t work on the wing, where he was usually parked during his time at FC Barcelona in order not to interfere too much with Lionel Messi’s sphere of influence.
Record goalscorer for the Rojiblancos
The Catalans paid an impressive 120 million euros in 2019 for a player who returned to Madrid just two years later on the last day of the transfer period. The club just seemed to suit him better. In January, he cemented his legendary status at Atlético when he became the club’s record goalscorer.
In the semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup against Real Madrid, he scored his 174th goal for the Rojiblancos and surpassed Luis Aragonés at the top of the all-time top scorer list at Atlético, where his contract runs until 2026. Of course, he is one of the top earners at the club that Diego Simeone has shaped for more than a decade.