When the Champions League quarter-final first leg kicks off between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona at Camp Nou on Wednesday, all eyes will fall on Antoine Griezmann, the French striker whose chapter at Barcelona ended in bitter disappointment, but now returns to the Catalan ground chasing a fairytale final trophy for his Atletico Madrid career.
The 35-year-old, who announced last week he will leave La Liga at the end of this season to join Major League Soccer side Orlando City, has one unfulfilled goal before he departs: deliver Atletico’s first-ever Champions League title, and end his trophy drought at the club stretching back to 2018. Atletico have twice fallen at the final hurdle of Europe’s top club competition, losing the 2014 and 2016 finals, and Griezmann has not lifted silverware with the Rojiblancos since their 2018 Europa League triumph and subsequent UEFA Super Cup victory.
Griezmann’s history with both clubs is tangled. He first left Atletico for Barcelona in a high-profile 2019 transfer, but his two-year stint at Camp Nou was marked by struggle: he never clicked alongside Lionel Messi, and was part of the side that suffered a humiliating 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the 2020 Champions League quarter-finals. He also missed out on Atletico’s 2021 La Liga title – a trophy that has eluded Griezmann across his entire career. He returned to Atletico on loan in 2021, before making the move permanent a year later, and has since become the club’s all-time leading goalscorer with 211 goals to his name.
Orlando City had originally pushed for Griezmann to join the club by the end of March, but the forward insisted on staying to chase two major trophies: the Champions League and this season’s Copa del Rey. A key part of Diego Simeone’s dynasty across the Argentine coach’s 14-year reign at Atletico, Griezmann has blended tireless work ethic with world-class technical quality, earning praise even from his opponent’s dugout this week. “Griezmann is a maverick, it’s unbelievable how he plays football,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick said last week. “It seems so light, it’s like he’s dancing.”
This is not Griezmann’s first iconic Champions League performance at Camp Nou. A decade ago in the 2016 quarter-finals, he scored twice to knock out Barcelona’s superstar attacking trio of Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar and send Atletico through – though that run ultimately ended in a crushing final loss to Real Madrid in Milan. This week, after starting in Atletico’s 2-1 La Liga defeat to Barcelona at the weekend, Griezmann is likely to start the quarter-final from the bench, with reduced minutes across this season a key factor in his decision to move on at the end of the campaign.
Joining Griezmann in the spotlight for Atletico is Argentine striker Julian Alvarez, who has been repeatedly linked with a transfer to Barcelona amid speculation over his future at the Metropolitano. The 2024 signing from Manchester City – who cost Atletico £81.5 million ($108 million) – fuelled rumours earlier this season when he refused to rule out a summer move, answering “maybe yes, maybe no” when asked if he would stay beyond this campaign. While Barcelona’s ongoing financial struggles mean they are unlikely to afford the steep transfer fee Atletico would demand, Alvarez will have a prime opportunity to impress his potential suitors on Wednesday, where he is expected to start.
After a rocky start to the season that saw him go through a winter goal drought, Alvarez has found his form in recent months, earning consistent public backing from Simeone. He scored in Atletico’s 4-0 Copa del Rey semi-final first leg win over Barcelona in February, where Griezmann also found the net as the Catalans capitulated.
While five-time Champions League winners Barcelona enter the tie as favorites, Atletico carry unique motivation: Griezmann chasing a career-defining piece of silverware to cap his Atletico legacy, and Alvarez out to prove his quality to suitors. With both players hungry to make their mark, the quarter-final showdown is set for a dramatic clash at Camp Nou.