Atletico Madrid
forward Antoine Griezmann says that he would like to play Marseille in the
Europa League final – assuming both teams can progress.
OM hold a 2-0
first-leg advantage over Red Bull Salzburg heading into Thursday’s return,
while Atleti are marginal favourites after a 1-1 draw away to Arsenal.
Griezmann holds
Marseille in the highest esteem and had wanted to face them before now.
“They’re a team full of confidence and I think
they’ll pass the second leg and go into the final. So if we also get through, I
want to play them,” he told L’Equipe.
“It’s the atmosphere,
it’s a city that lives for football. I wanted to play against Marseille at the
Velodrome in the last 16, the quarter-finals or the semis, but the draw meant
it didn’t happen.
“I love the stadium, I
love the jersey, I find it beautiful.”
Indeed, the
27-year-old went as far to say that the club’s achievements eclipse those of
Paris Saint-Germain and that for him they are still his homeland’s most notable
club.
“For me, Marseille are
the biggest club in France, even today, with PSG above them and Lyon and Monaco
are competing alongside them,” he said of the 1992 Champions League winners.
“For me, it’s Marseille who are historically
the biggest.”
And should Atleti
progress, he is well aware of the talent they have in their ranks. Asked to
pick out who he appreciated in the current side, he said: “Florian Thauvin and
Dimitri Payet have been in great form. Luiz Justavo is enormous. Kostas
Mitrogolou has come and started to score goals, Lucas Ocampos is finding the
net too. Bouna Sarr, when he plays, is incredible.”
Griezmann has an added
incentive to progress to the Europa League final, which is in his homeland on
May 16.
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