Griezmann tells AS: “I want more: a League, a Champions League, a Cup...”
Having scored more than 200 goals in 461 matches, Antoine Griezmann has already achieved a great deal at Atlético. But he’s not done yet.
“I want more,” says Antoine Griezmann (Mâcon, France, 1994), with one of those trademark smiles that define him. Wide, lighting up his face, a sparkle in his eyes.
Griezmann wants more with Atlético Madrid. And that’s saying something - he’s already scored 203 goals in the club’s colors, 30 more than Luis Aragonés’s 173, a mark once thought untouchable. The Frenchman wants more trophies, the kind that never lose their shine. “A League, a Champions League and a Cup…”
“There is still a lot left to do,” Griezmann adds. He wants it all. That smile flashes again as he says so, having joined AS for an interview during a Hyundai event at Atlético’s Estadio Metropolitano.
In a wide-ranging chat, we discuss his new role in the team; his messages urging Julián Álvarez to choose Atleti; his status as a Rojiblanco legend; that Champions League final penalty. Griezmann talks to AS about all this, and - there’s that word again - more.
You had been chasing goal number 200 since the spring. Did you get stressed by it?
I didn’t feel stressed, but it’s true that it dragged on. Especially last season at the end, when my mind wasn’t focused on looking for it.
Why?
After everything that had happened in March, being out of almost every competition, it was very hard for me mentally. But once it got close, the goals ended up coming by themselves.
Did what happened in March affect you that much mentally?
Yes, of course, because I had a lot of excitement and a lot of dreams, and in March almost the whole month wasn’t good for anyone and we lost the League and the Champions League, and my spirits dropped. It really hurt me mentally and that later showed in my game.
How do you accept your new role?
In the end, you always want to play. But I understand that I have to be professional, set an example for all my teammates and then show the manager that I can still play, that I have everything needed to play and fight for a place in the starting eleven.
But how do you feel when you step onto the pitch?
That I want to play. I am very happy here in Madrid playing for Atleti and I think that is clear this season.
You renewed until 2027 even though you already had a contract until 2026. Why?
Because I want more. I still have many minutes, plenty in my legs and in my mind to play and be someone important at the club, and I know I have to prove that to everyone; I still want to be even more important. The role or the title of legend will be something to talk about in many years’ time.
With 461 matches, 203 goals, the club’s all-time top scorer, the first player to score at the Metropolitano… You are already a club legend.
Yes, but I don’t really like giving myself titles or things like that. There will be time to think about all of that and to keep proving every day that I can play.
How much truth is there in the rumors linking you to MLS? Does it bother you that people are constantly discussing your future?
No. They have talked about me since the first day I arrived and they will keep doing it until the day I leave. But as I’ve said, I am very happy here. Everyone knows that MLS is my dream and my goal, but I still have a contract; I want to keep renewing here and continue being important.
After goal number 200, what is left for you to achieve at Atleti?
(Smiles widely) To win a League, a Champions League and a Cup. There is still a lot left to do and to keep bringing joy to the fans and to my teammates.
Do you still have a thorn in your side with the Champions League? Does that penalty in the 2016 final in Milan still haunt you?
Yes, you always think about it. It’s true that even if I’d scored we might not have won, but it would have been a push for the team at an important moment in the match, when we were playing very well, and it wasn’t meant to be.
Do you still think about it?
Yes, of course, and I will until I win the Champions League with Atleti (smiles softly).
Julián Álvarez said in an interview with AS that you sent him a message on Instagram telling him he had to sign for Atleti. Tell me about that. Why did you write to Julián? Did someone ask you to? The club, Cholo? Or did it come from you?
I knew the club was doing everything possible to bring him in, so I had to send him a message of ten or twenty lines to convince him, telling him all the good things and how great the club, Cholo and the teammates are. In the end, thanks to insistence, he came to join all of us.
But did you write to him a lot?
No. I think I only messaged him four times or so until he made his decision (laughs).
And what is it like having him next to you? The gesture shows your generosity because Julián came in to be the star of Atleti, something you already were.
Yes, in the end, the more stars, so to speak, the better for the club and the more chances of winning. We try to have a good relationship on and off the pitch and I think that shows when we play together.
Is this the best Atleti you’ve been part of? This year’s team, this squad?
No, no.
Which one was the best?
I don’t know what year, but the mythical 4-4-2 side. It wasn’t necessarily the most talented team, but it was very well worked and everyone was completely focused on the same objective.
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