Antoine Griezmann: Efforts 10,000% to find the love of Atletico Madrid fans again
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From a traitor to someone loved by Atletico Madrid fans, that is not a long, but still complete and accurate description of Antoine Griezmann’s journey in the Los Rojiblancos shirt.
Destroying your own image
“My fans, my club, my home”. This is what Griezmann wrote on his personal social networking sites on June 19, 2018. That was the day the 27-year-old striker extended his contract with Atletico until 2023 after rejecting Barcelona’s offer.
All Los Rojiblancos fans at that time were celebrating in their hearts. They feel extremely happy when their beloved team can retain a superstar for another 5 years. Atletico fans think that Griezmann will now devote himself wholeheartedly to the club they love.
Less than a year later, everything completely collapsed. The French striker announced that he was preparing to leave Atletico even though the 2018/19 season had not yet ended.
The reason, according to Griezmann’s own words, is that he wants to look for “new challenges”. The next destination in the career of the former Real Sociedad player is Barcelona – one of the competitors for domestic titles with the home team Wanda Metropolitano.
Atletico fans felt as if they had been betrayed when they learned that Griezmann and Barca had been secretly “going out at night” together since mid-February 2019. When Los Rojiblancos discovered this incident, their pillar officially became a rookie of El Blaugrana.
Atletico fans showed their outrage by destroying the club’s honorary plaque for Griezmann. The first time, they smeared mud and dirt on this stele and pasted stickers of the team logo over it to cover up the name of the player born in 1991. The second time, when Atletico repaired the stele, they applied adhesive tape again. red X shape, throwing empty beer cans and toy mice on it.
During Griezmann’s first return to Wanda Metropolitano as a Barca player (Atletico 0-1 Barca match in December 2019), number 17 was cursed by Atletico fans: “Go to hell.” Sport newspaper said that the Madrid club was fined 12,000 euros by the Spanish Football Federation for this reason.
The wave of opposition to Griezmann took place fiercely at Atletico, but Barca was not the good land of the French star. After 102 appearances in the red and blue shirt, Griezmann only had 35 goals and 17 assists.
These are extremely disappointing numbers compared to the “huge” price of up to 120 million euros that Barca had to pay to Los Rojiblancos to get the services of the strikers born in 1991. Griezmann really did. became a disaster in the transfer history of the Catalan giants.
After two failed years at Camp Nou, Grizzy returned to Wanda Metropolitano on loan. Of course, the player wearing the number 8 shirt did not receive any welcome from Atletico fans even though he announced that he would “try to restore the relationship that was once very good with the fans.” on the launch day (for the second time) of the Madrid club.
They booed Griezmann at least three times in matches where the French striker appeared on the field. That boycott became even more harsh when, while Joao Felix drove to the training ground in September 2021, Los Rojiblancos fans incited the Portuguese player to step on Griezmann’s foot to cause him to get injured. love.
About two months ago, some reporters asked Atletico president Enrique Cerezo: “Do you think this team’s fans will forgive Griezmann?”. “I think it will almost never happen,” Cerezo replied.
Have the guts to do it, have the guts to endure
Griezmann understands very well that his own wrong decisions have turned him into a thorn in the side of Atletico fans. Instead of “ruffling feathers” with Los Rojiblancos fans, the striker born in 1991 just frankly admitted that he was too selfish to leave Atletico to go to Barca.
“My move to Barca in 2019 greatly hurt Atletico fans. They gave me everything, but in the end, I turned around and left just for what I wanted and needed,” Griezmann confided to Movistar channel in March 2023.
“If I were a fan, I would be angry too. I feel like I deserve their negative reactions. I want to apologize for hurting them.”
Before that, the striker born in 1991 also twice affirmed his confidence in finding the love of Atletico fans. “I have to regain their trust and I know how to do that. The only way is to perform in each match. Joining Atletico is my pride,” Griezmann shared with GQ magazine in April 2022.
Griezmann has been making efforts to apologize with his performances on the field. The 32-year-old striker created a positive relationship with Los Rojiblancos fans before announcing he would go to Barca. After that, he ruined his own image.
But, Griezmann is also rebuilding that image himself. The striker wearing shirt number 7 has corrected his mistakes and stood up from the place where he made a mistake. From a traitor, he is now loved by Atletico fans.
Griezmann has stumbled enough and made enough mistakes to never go down the same path again. The French star understands that Atletico Madrid is truly his home, not Barca or any other club.
The contract between Griezmann and Los Rojiblancos is valid until 2026. At that time, the striker born in 1991 will be 35 years old. All the most beautiful and quintessential things in his prime were devoted to this red and white shirt…
