New Barcelona signing Antoine Griezmann has credited Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone for his form in recent seasons, saying he felt lucky to have played under the Argentinian.
Griezmann completed his €120million move to Barca last week after spending five years at Atleti playing under Simeone.
His exit left a sour taste in Madrid, with Atletico adamant they should have been paid €200m because they say Griezmann and his new club agreed terms before July 1, when his release clause dropped by €80m.
Barcelona are confident there is no evidence of such an agreement taking place and, despite the bad blood between the two clubs, Griezmann has spoken glowingly about Simeone.
I am lucky to have learned from Cholo Simeone. Thanks to him, I ve been playing at a very high level, Griezmann said in an interview with Barcelona.
At Atletico, there s never a day off. It s very physical and there s a lot of hard work on tactics. Nobody can let their guard down.
