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Antoine Griezmann reflects on his time at Barcelona

Atletico Madrid attacker Antoine Griezmann has opened up on his two-year stint as a Barcelona player between 2019 and 2021.

Griezmann moved to Barcelona from Atletico four years ago but failed to justify the club’s decision to trigger his whopping £107 million release clause.

The 32-year-old was loaned back to Atletico in the 2021/22 season with an option to extend for a further 12 months before an agreement over his permanent transfer was reached in October.

Reflecting on his time at Barcelona where he won one Copa del Rey title, Griezmann bemoaned his debut campaign at Camp Nou, although he did admit that things got significantly better in the second season.

“It was a difficult first year, as a substitute, not playing, another system, another position – I had to get used to all that,” Griezmann told DAZN (h/t Mundo Deportivo).

“I liked my second year – I enjoyed it.”

Griezmann has bagged 12 goals and 11 assists across all competitions this term, helping Atletico to third place in La Liga – two points behind city rivals Real Madrid.

As the Frenchman prepares to take on Barcelona this weekend, Griezmann wondered if his side could have mounted a proper title challenge if not for their poor start to the season.

“We can ask ourselves that question, because we’re playing at a high level – winning every game,” he added.

“You start to think about it and it could be the case, but that’s football – now we’re on another run and we have to enjoy what we have.

“We’ve got a big game ahead of us – we’ll try to go there and win and get the three points.” 

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