As Atletico Madrid gears up for a high-stakes first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final against Arsenal, all eyes in European football are fixed on Antoine Griezmann – the club legend who will bring his decades-long Atletico Madrid career to a close at the end of the 2024-2025 season to join MLS side Orlando City.
The depth of the bond between Griezmann, the club, and long-time manager Diego Simeone was laid bare in an unscripted, rare moment before Atletico’s quarter-final clash against Barcelona. With the packed media room waiting for questions to begin, Simeone opened the press conference with an emotional, unscheduled tribute to the departing forward that left Griezmann visibly surprised.
“I want to thank you for your hard work and your humility,” the Argentine manager said. “You are an admirable person in a society where young people need role models like you. Thank you for everything you have given us, everything you continue to give, and everything you still will.”
While Orlando City had pushed for Griezmann to make the move to the United States earlier in the year, the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner with France insisted on staying in Madrid through the end of the campaign. The choice has allowed him to say a proper goodbye to the fanbase that has supported him through two spells at the club, where he has racked up 494 senior appearances and 212 goals to become Atletico’s all-time top goalscorer.
Griezmann’s entire senior club career has been spent in Spain’s La Liga. He launched his professional journey at Real Sociedad in 2009, before a near-transfer that changed the entire trajectory of his career: in 2013, while still at Real Sociedad, he came agonizingly close to joining Arsenal under Arsene Wenger, as he revealed in his autobiography. After waiting through the entire transfer window for the move to materialize, Arsenal pulled out of the deal hours before the window closed. When the London side expressed interest again years later, Griezmann turned them down outright, still stinging from the earlier snub. A year later, he signed with Atletico Madrid for a reported €30 million fee, a move that would define his legendary career.
After joining Atletico in 2014, Griezmann made a high-profile switch to Barcelona in 2019, only to return to Atletico on loan in 2021, before making the transfer permanent 12 months later. Despite the messy, unpopular nature of his first departure, his return won fans over entirely: he apologized for the exit, reconnected with the supporter base, and rebuilt his legacy as the heart of the club.
As BBC Sport columnist Guillem Balague notes, Griezmann’s significance to Atletico extends far beyond his goal tally. He is widely regarded as the embodiment of everything the club stands for: perfectly matching Simeone’s ideal of a player who combines world-class talent with relentless work rate, total team commitment, and a willingness to prioritize collective success over individual glory. For an entire generation of Atletico fans, Griezmann *is* the club, and his leadership has lifted every player around him throughout his tenure.
Unlike many modern legends whose legacies are defined by a long list of major trophies, Griezmann’s legacy is built on character and consistency rather than silverware. During his time at the club, he lifted the UEFA Europa League, UEFA Super Cup, and Spanish Super Cup, but his lasting impact comes from his alignment with Atletico’s underdog identity. Even when he left for Barcelona, he has since said he felt like he had left home, a testament to how deep his connection to the club runs.
After Atletico secured their semi-final spot by beating Barcelona in the quarter-final, Griezmann gave fans one more unforgettable moment: as the rest of the squad headed down the tunnel after the final whistle, he ran back out onto the pitch at the Metropolitano Stadium to the roar of the crowd, applauding the stands before dancing and celebrating with his teammates, soaking in the moment with the fans who supported him through every chapter of his tenure.
Now, with one of the biggest matches of his final season looming against Arsenal – the club that almost signed him 12 years ago – Griezmann is eyeing a fairytale ending. Neither Atletico nor Arsenal have ever won the Champions League; Atletico fell at the final hurdle in 1974, 2014, and 2016, and Griezmann has said that lifting the trophy this year would “heal a very deep wound” for the club.
With his Atletico career winding down, the question remains: will the semi-final against Arsenal be the final chapter of Griezmann’s Champions League story, or will he carry Atletico through to the final in Budapest for one last shot at the biggest prize in European football?