Simeone to Griezmann: ‘God willing, five more in the Champions’ | OneFootball

Simeone surprised everyone before the start of the press conference ahead of Barcelona – Atlético with some heartfelt words for Griezmann. He spoke before the media questions began to send a message to the Frenchman, who was sitting beside him in the Camp Nou press room. It all came in their first joint appearance since the announcement by the French striker that he will leave at the end of the season.

In those words, Simeone could be seen visibly emotional, with Griezmann by his side. He began with a heartfelt message: “As the coach I am, and also as an Atlético de Madrid fan if I were in the place of any supporter here with Antoine, I want to thank you for all your work, your humility; you are an admirable person for today’s kids, in a society that needs people like you.”

And he focused on the present, after thanking him for everything he had done over so many years: “Thank you for everything you gave us, everything you give us, and everything I’m going to demand that you keep giving us. Thank you for your commitment, for the way you always behaved, knowing how to separate that beautiful family-like relationship and not cross that difficult line to manage, the one between coach and player-friend. I consider you a player first and then a friend.”

Simeone ended, emotional, with a message to Griezmann and the fans that went down well: “There are 8 league matches left, one Copa del Rey match and, God willing, we’re going to play five more matches in the Champions League. I invite you to keep enjoying yourself, I love you very much. If any Atlético de Madrid fan were here today, they would be saying the same words to you; I feel completely represented by them. I’m your coach, if you don’t run tomorrow, you’re out, and that’s that. I just wanted to say these words.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.