Ernesto Valverde pleased Antoine Griezmann will miss Athletic Club-Atletico Madrid clash - "He always hurts us"

Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone officially confirmed on Wednesday that he will be without Antoine Griezmann for the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final clash with Athletic Club, which takes place at San Mames.

It’s a hammer blow for Atleti, as they aim to overturn the one-goal deficit from the first leg at the Civitas Metropolitano. Athletic boss Ernesto Valverde recognises that it is a big benefit for his side that Griezmann is unavailable for selection, as per MD.

“He’s a great player who also tends to score goals against us. In the last two he hasn’t, but he always hurts us. We hope he recovers, it’s a significant loss for them.”

However, he also understands that Atleti will be very difficult to play against, even despite their home advantage and Griezmann’s absence.

“(Simeone) has the patience to defend and he also defends well, it’s difficult to get past his lines. But I understand that he will try to go for the game as he did here in the league and in the first leg, I suppose it will be similar. All that compensates for not getting too disintegrated, having a structure to attack and to defend.”

It should be a cracking occasion at San Mames on Thursday, with both teams likely to be evely-matches. However, there’s no doubt that Griezmann being missing for Atletico Madrid is a big, big boost for Athletic Club.