Simeone: Atleti lucky to have magical Griezmann

Simeone: Atleti lucky to have magical Griezmann

Atlético Madrid coach Diego Simeone heaped praise on Antoine Griezmann following the forward’s superb goal against Real Madrid on Thursday.

Griezmann scored in extra time as Atlético won 4-2 against their city rivals to reach the Copa del Rey quarterfinals.

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“A magical football player like Griezmann appeared,” Simeone said. “He beat Vinícius,[Júnior] who is very quick, in a long race and put the ball into the top corner.

“Antoine scored a spectacular goal, perhaps his best we’ve seen. We are lucky to have him here and that he wants to be here. I hope he can bring us many more nights like this one.”

Griezmann, 32, became Atlético’s all-time top scorer when he found the back of the net in his team’s 5-3 loss to Real Madrid in the Spanish Supercopa semifinal on Jan. 10.

“We are delighted for Griezmann,” Atlético Madrid captain Koke said. “He scored a fantastic goal.

“We weren’t able to give Griezmann a win last week to celebrate his achievement of becoming the club’s all-time top scorer. Today we can. It’s great to beat your eternal rivals in our stadium.”