Antoine Griezmann on his Champions League ‘dream’, styling himself on a Manchester United legend and becoming Atletico Madrid’s record goalscorer after a ‘difficult’ return from Barcelona

Antoine Griezmann is dreaming of winning the Champions League with Atletico Madrid 10 years after joining the club from Real Sociedad.

It was the French international who got the first goal in Atleti’s epic win over Serie A leaders Inter on Wednesday and ahead of Friday’s draw he has opened up on copying David Beckham, on his difficult return to the club having left for Barcelona, on becoming Atletico’s all-time top scorer, and on the ambition of finally winning the club’s first European Cup.

‘I didn’t think much about setting a record back then,’ he told LaLiga when asked about overhauling Luis Aragones as the club’s all-time top goalscorer. ‘It was 2014 and I was just enjoying it and doing my best.’

The fact that Griezmann has surpassed club legend Aragones has helped fans forget the way he left them to join Barcelona in 2019.

Asked what Diego Simeone said to him when he said he was going, Griezmann said: ‘He told me that I deserved the best and that he was not going to stand in my way because I had given everything for him and for the club. We never cut off our relationship. I remember being a Barca player, talking to him, about our daughters, about football.’

Griezmann believes Atletico can win the Champions League after reaching the quarter-finals

Atletico Madrid’s record goalscorer will face his former club Barcelona this weekend

That enduring relationship helped Griezmann find a way back to Atletico in 2022 after a disappointing time at the Camp Nou. But the supporters were never going to be as forgiving.

‘I already knew it was going to be difficult,’ he says. ‘That was natural. The goal was to go back and do everything to win the love of the fans again. I remember telling Aitor, who was always in charge of my affairs, “I want to return to Atleti”. He told me that it was going to be very difficult, that I was going to have people against me. I asked him and my sister, who is my representative, to get me back there, and I wanted to take care of everything else. I knew that in the end I would win them over.’

They applauded him when he became their all-time top scorer and they were in raptures again on Wednesday when he returned after two weeks out injured to lead them to victory against Inter.

‘I wasn’t certain that I’d ever have so much affection from the fans again, certainly not as much I feel today, but I did know that they wouldn’t boo me, that I was going to have a neutral relationship with them. But now I’m feeling a lot of love.’

Griezmann has been linked with a move to Manchester United during various stages of his career but he always stopped short of going to Old Trafford despite David Beckham having been the player he modeled himself on growing up.

When asked why he always plays with long sleeves he said: ‘Because when I watched football as a kid there was David Beckham in long sleeves. I really liked his style. At Real Sociedad I remember that they didn’t make long-sleeved shirts and I had to ask the kit man, who was Michelo at the time. He made every effort to get me shirts with long sleeves.’

All that Griezmann’s return needs now is a trophy. ‘A dream, and an objective, is to win LaLiga and the Champions League,’ he says. ‘I have never won the league and I may be the club’s record goalscorer but not having won it is difficult. And the Champions League, for everyone, would be a dream.’

He revealed he wears long sleeved shirts have modelled himself on David Beckham (left)

He admitted it had been difficult when Atletico won LaLiga when he was a rival at Barcelona

Griezmann has targeted winning LaLiga and the Champions League under Simeone at Atletico

The club have won the domestic competition in the 10 years since Griezmann joined the club but it came when he was at Barcelona. ‘It was very difficult, because we were also close to winning it,’ he says. ‘But at the same time I was very happy because they deserved it, and for Koke, for Cholo (Simeone), who mean a lot to me I was happy.’

Barcelona will be the rivals for Griezmann, Koke and Simeone on Sunday when Atletico host Xavi’s team. It will be a celebration of two teams who turned over Italian opposition this week to reach Europe’s last eight. It could be a chance for one to close the gap on Real Madrid. And it could even be a precursor to a meeting in Europe depending on how the draw goes on Friday.

The fact that Atletico are in that draw makes Griezmann happy, and takes him one step closer to his dream.

Watch Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona on Sunday, March 17, with coverage starting from 7:30pm GMT on Viaplay Sports 1 and ITV4.