This Sunday, the French forward received a heartfelt tribute from the entire stadium, sad to bid farewell to Atletico’s all-time leading scorer.
“There will never be another Griezmann”: the French forward of Atletico Madrid played his final minutes in front of his fans against Getafe (1-0), receiving a heartfelt tribute at the Metropolitano, befitting his legend.
“I feel terrible for crying so much!”, confessed 35-year-old Griezmann, after saying goodbye to his supporters at the end of his 500th La Liga match in the rojiblanco shirt, likely his second-to-last game in Europe before heading to Orlando, USA.
Skip Advertisement
The French World Cup champion, Atletico’s all-time leading scorer with 212 goals, was saluted heroically in front of his wife and four children, whom he walked onto the Metropolitano pitch with for the last time, wearing the captain’s armband.
Instrumental in the 94th-minute assist for the only goal of the match, scored by Nigerian Ademola Lookman, “Grizi” was applauded several times during the game and in a touching ceremony by his fans, who thanked their “legendary goal scorer” for his ten years of loyal service – interrupted by two seasons at FC Barcelona (2019-2021).
Griezmann “sorry” for leaving for Barcelona
“It’s true that I didn’t win a La Liga or Champions League, but what I receive tonight, your affection, is worth more, and I will keep it with me all my life”, he told the rojiblanco crowd. “It’s wonderful, thank you all for staying. I know that many of you have forgiven me (for leaving for Barcelona, Editor’s Note), but I tell you again: I’m sorry. I didn’t realize all the affection I had here, I was very young. I made a mistake, I thought about it, and we did everything to come back here”, explained Griezmann.
“When he returned (in 2021), it was a moment of joy, happiness, we knew that a genius was coming back. We had at home a genuine football genius, we will miss him”, praised his coach Diego Simeone before the match.
Close relationship with Diego Simeone
The Frenchman, considered one of the best players in the history of the Spanish league, will leave an indelible mark in Madrid for his class acts and team spirit. “Antoine would like to be remembered as a noble, humane, responsible person… A guy who was always ready to serve Atletico. He had the humility to come back and leave at zero… And what about the insatiable goal scorer he was?”, pondered Simeone, ensuring that “there will never be another Griezmann”.
Skip Advertisement
The French World Cup champion had previously thanked his coach for making him feel “like the best player in the world”: “I want to thank the one who changed everything here, Don Diego Pablo Simeone. Thanks to you, I became a world champion (in 2018), thanks to you, I felt like the best player in the world. I owe you a lot and it was a pride to fight for you on the field”, declared Griezmann to his coach in a speech on the Metropolitano pitch.
