Griezmann on his UCL 'dream', styling himself on a Man United legend

Antoine Griezmann is dreaming of winning the Champions League with Atletico Madrid 10 years after joining the club from Real Sociedad.

It was the French international who got the first goal in Atleti’s epic win over Serie A leaders Inter on Wednesday and ahead of Friday’s draw he has opened up on copying David Beckham, on his difficult return to the club having left for Barcelona, on becoming Atletico’s all-time top scorer, and on the ambition of finally winning the club’s first European Cup.

‘I didn’t think much about setting a record back then,’ he told LaLiga when asked about overhauling Luis Aragones as the club’s all-time top goalscorer. 'It was 2014 and I was just enjoying it and doing my best.'

The fact that Griezmann has surpassed club legend Aragones has helped fans forget the way he left them to join Barcelona in 2019.

Asked what Diego Simeone said to him when he said he was going, Griezmann said: ‘He told me that I deserved the best and that he was not going to stand in my way because I had given everything for him and for the club. We never cut off our relationship. I remember being a Barça player, talking to him, about our daughters, about football.’

That enduring relationship helped Griezmann find a way back to Atletico in 2022 after a disappointing time at the Camp Nou. But the supporters were never going to be as forgiving.

‘I already knew it was going to be difficult,’ he says. ‘That was natural. The goal was to go back and do everything to win the love of the fans again. I remember telling Aitor, who was always in charge of my affairs, “I want to return to Atleti”. He told me that it was going to be very difficult, that I was going to have people against me. I asked him and my sister, who is my