Antoine Griezmann’s ‘absurd’ Champions League assist was beyond magnificent | OneFootball

The masses are revelling in the shortfalls of Tottenham Hotspur after their 5-2 loss to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, but there are two sides to every drubbing and the other is appreciating the majestic skills of the victors.

Atleti have their fair share of quality players capable of the sublime and were well suited to exploit Tottenham’s weaknesses, with one moment of quality in particular catching our eyes.

The game was done and dusted within the first 22 minutes, by which point Atleti were four goals up courtesy of goals from Marcos Llorente, Antoine Griezmann, Julian Alvarez and Robin Le Normand.

But they weren’t done there. Tottenham scored one of the earliest conceivable consolation goals after 26 minutes, before Atleti restored the four-goal lead 10 minutes into the second half – with Griezmann mesmerising us in the process.

From a Tottenham free kick, Jan Oblak superbly saved a Richarlison header before Atleti cleared their lines. And as the ball looped back down, Griezmann flicked it first time across his body and into the path of Alvarez.

Perfectly weighted, the touch allowed Alvarez to charge between the two remaining Spurs defenders before slotting past Guglielmo Vicario.

Griezmann had judged the flight of the clearance perfectly and deftly managed to manoeuvre the ball to somewhere his teammate could create more active danger from.

His set-up was described as “unfathomably good” and “absurd” by Telegraph reporter Sam Dean on X, while words like “exquisite” and “outrageous” were used by Jay Harris for The Athletic.

On commentary duties for TNT Sports, Ally McCoist hailed Oblak’s “absolutely magnificent save – but it’s not as good as the touch by Griezmann,” which he declared was “absolutely a different level.”

As his 35th birthday approaches later this month, Griezmann showed he’s still got it. He’s a player who has dazzled when in his prime, usually displaying his class as a supporting striker and showing high footballing intelligence.

The end of his career is drawing nearer, but Griezmann is still cutting it in Europe and confirmed after the game he wants to see out the season with Atleti, despite rumours of an MLS move in the current American off-season.

“I’m really good here, enjoying myself a lot,” he told Movistar. “What I do on the pitch speaks for me by itself. We’ll see but the idea is to stay until the end, and then others can speak.”

Under contract for another season after this one, Griezmann has long been tempted by the idea of finishing his career in the USA.

He would no doubt light MLS up, but his quality belongs in the Champions League for a while longer.

According to UEFA’s website, he has more Champions League assists in his career than Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Arjen Robben, having now reached the milestone of 20.

What’s more, his goal earlier means he has now scored 45 times in the competition, overtaking Didier Drogba.

He’s never won the whole thing, but Griezmann should rightly be considered a modern-day Champions League icon whose sublime technique remains a force to be reckoned with.