It was a relaxed chat between the three of them, which Diego Simeone he wanted to reveal in the press room after the victory against Valencia. “We won with two goals from both of us,” the coach highlighted before explaining how in that conversation between the coach and Griezmann y Soon everyone’s needs were transmitted. Of playing for the footballers, although “Koke has played a lot”, and of the need for them to give everything they have to play, the coach. “Antoine has been playing less and it is not easy not to give him that starting position that one believes he deserves and I wanted to convey to him how important he always is, not just when he is a starter. He has differential things. There are not many in the squad who have it,” the coach praised his pupil.
Those differential things are a stratospheric control at a 40 meter pass. Pubin which he touched the ball with his toe and then put it away. “I put my foot down, I find it with a little luck, but the control allowed me to put myself in the best moment to hit,” the protagonist himself explained the action. An action that was worth three points in a very close duel for Atlético and that, with just half an hour on the pitch, Griezmann could change.
Simeonewho explained the action at a press conference by joining his hands as if he were praying to God, said that “the control belongs to an eternal player”, that of someone “legendary” and to whom the coach is grateful for the attitude he is showing despite the fact that the Frenchman is the 12th player in minutes this season with 885, and in the previous season there came a time when only A cloud I played more than him. “The stars never cause problems because they understand their place. They know that years have passed, they accept why they are in another place in the squad and they give their best,” the Argentine conceded.
The Frenchman has five goals and one assist this season. Last year he had 11 and six assists on goals at this point in a season in which he was irreplaceable. “I know that the minutes I am given I will try to do my best and sometimes like today, scoring, or like in Bilbao not touching a ball, that’s what it is,” said the top scorer in Atlético de Madrid’s history with 204 goals.
Between the Frenchman and the captain of Atlético they have played 1,173 games as red and white: 705, Soon y 468, Griezmann. The number seven, in addition, reaches 546 duels in the league, the fifth with the most games and only four of Raúl González Blancofourth, which he should surpass this season. Furthermore, when asked about his future, he is clear: “Win a title with Atlético. There are months left so be physically and mentally well to help the team,” explained the Frenchman.
Griezmann’s secret
His secret is a “love for football” that he lives every time he enters the field both to train and to play. “Putting on my boots makes me happy,” he revealed. Griezmann. And it must also happen to the captain who scored again today after more than a year without seeing a goal. It was in the 3-0 victory against Girona, in August of last year. “For me it is an honor to share the locker room with a legend like him,” Griezmann thanked Koke and he returned the compliment and asked to “win titles” by 2026 “for the work they have been doing.”
The match against Valencia was the last of the year at the Metropolitano since Atlético will close 2025 in Girona. The rojiblancos have won 21 of 26 duels in their fiefdom and Simeone He hopes to improve that pending issue that he has had in recent years, such as victories away from home.