Atletico Madrid began their Champions League group stage as if it was a final. Tense, fighting to the end and dramatic in the extreme. It was Antoine Griezmann who, coming off the bench, popped up in the crucial moment to give Los Colchoneros a late victory.
It only adds to the strange situation surrounding Griezmann. The French forward has a clause in his loan deal at Atleti which states that if he plays half of the minutes he is available for across his two-year loan, Los Rojiblancos will be forced to fork out €40m for him.
As a result, Griezmann has appeared in every game this season, but only for the final half hour, as was the case against Porto. He is still making an impact though, scoring two winners in his last three matches.
Asked about this peculiar role, Griezmann did not cause any issues for his manager or club. Marca carried his remarks made to Movistar Plus.
“It is what it is, it’s out of my hands. Grateful to God for being here. My family is happy, I of course want more, but I am going to give everything I have in the minutes I have.”
“I feel like a man of the club, I am happy here and I only want to play here and give everything for the club, for Cholo and for the fans.”
Diego Simeone, who one can imagine is quickly going to become tired of the topic, batted away his question, as per Diario AS.
“We can see the reality and it is that in 30 minutes he is doing very well. We don’t know in 60. We look at realities.”
Regardless of how Atleti fans might feel about his past decisions, Griezmann’s attitude has to be commended. His situation would be unacceptable for many top players but Griezmann is putting the club’s interests ahead of his own.
