Lionel Messi has many praises from his Stellaire Stint with Barcelona, but the Argentina has surrendered a LaLiga record to Antoine Griezmann.
During the 1-1 draw of Atletico Madrid against Espanyol, Griezmann made his 521st LABERA performance, a new record among non-Spanish players.
Messi became owned by the record in January 2020, when he played his 467th LaLiga match against Granada to catch up with Donato (466), who was born in Brazil but in 1990 the Spanish citizenship.
Messi ended his shimmering spell with Barcelona on 520 LABERA performances, with a 2-1 defeat against Celta Vigo in Camp Nou in May 2021, his last game in the competition.
Griezmann corresponded to the count of Messi in a 4-2 defeat against Barca, one of the three clubs he represented in LaLiga, before the international break and has now surpassed him downright.
The French International is now also ninth downright in Laliga's of all time for the appearance, although he has a way to go if he wants to break the general record in Laliga.
Andoni Zubizarreta and Joaquin are on top of the rankings, each bound at 622 performances, although people like Raul (550) and Sergio Ramos (536) are within the sights of Griezmann, although there is speculation to MLS.
While Griezmann is still celebrating a milestone in his club career, we dive in the data on his rise to the top of Spanish football.
From Segunda -Promotion to Europe
After he had risen by the ranks in Real Sociedad, Griezmann made his senior debut for the Basque club in September 2009 and would play an important role in their promotion-winning season 2009-10.
Griezmann scored six times in 40 performances in all competitions and earned La Real Promotion back to Laliga after three campaigns in the second layer.
He was 19 years old when he made his LABERA debut in August 2010, to replace Francisco Sutil when La Real Villarreal defeated 1-0 on their return to the top flight.
Griezmann would become a household name in the division for four top seasons with La Real, which means that they return to the European elite in 2012-2013.
In the last match of that campaign, he scored the only goal against Deportivo La Coruna, which secured La Real's qualification for the Champions League for the first time since 2003-04.
He then enjoyed his best season for the club in 2013-14 and registered 20 targets (16 goals, four assists), which resulted in Atletico who covered a € 30 million (£ 24 million) for his services.
Griezmann ended his time in San Sebastian after he had made 140 performances in Laliga, of which 125 started, while 40 goals were made of top flight.
From Atletico Hero to Barca struggles
Griezmann quickly adapted to life in the Spanish capital and scored 22 goals in 37 performances during his first season under Diego Simeone, but the best would come.
After he had signed a new deal with the club in 2016, the next campaign saw him the second Frenchman after Karim Benzema to score 100 LaLala objectives, making it a marking in a 1-0 victory to Espanyol, about his 247th Top-Flight appearance.
With only the Supercopa de Espana of 2014 to his name after three seasons, speculation was full of a possible move to Manchester United, but Griezmann Koos to stay in place and his belief in Simeone was reimbursed in 2017-18 when he helped Atletico to lift the European League-Trophee, twice in the final in the final in the final in the final in the final in the final in the final in the final in the final in the final in the final in the final.
In that season he scored his 100th goal for Atletico and only became the third player who did this in the 21st century, after Sergio Aguero and Fernando Torres.
Griezmann continued to shine and raised his 300th LABERA performance in December 2018, but his feast for a first Spanish title of top flight saw him the following year of Barcelona, a decision that turned out to be misled.
He struggled to adapt to life with the Blaugrana. While Griezmann scored 22 times in Laliga about the two seasons he was there, he was often used from position to house Messi and Luis Suarez.
In the meantime, after he had led Atletico to the title in the last campaign before Griezmann joined, Simeone repeated the trick in the second season after he was sold, in 2020-21.
But the former Talisman of Los Colchoneros was still high in Madrid …
Evergreen in Atletico
Griezmann returned to Atleti on a one-year loan in 2021-22, but his lack of trust was clear because he only led that campaign for three competition goals.
At the beginning of 2022-23 Atletico extended the Loan from Griezmann for another year. Although the start of that campaign saw its playing time limited due to a disagreement with Barcelona during a purchase clause in his deal, a permanent transfer was agreed in October.
Griezmann went the season with 34 target statements (16 goals, 18 assists) in all competitions, of which 31 came in the Spanish top flight. No more player recorded that campaign, with Robert Lewandowski from Barcelona with 30.
Indeed, in the top five competitions in Europe, Griezmann was the joint leading assist manufacturer next to Messi, then from Paris Saint-Germain, and Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City.
The following year he caught up with club legend Luis Aragones to become the top scorer of Atletico, who nets for the 174th time.
And at the age of 34 he does not show any signs of delay and leads the title costs of the team in 2024-25.
308 came from Griezmann's 521 top flights for Atleti, and he also closes another milestone with non-Spanish players.
He is two goals away from reaching 200 in Laliga, and would become the sixth non-Spanish player who reaches that milestone, and only the fourth player in the 21st century, after Messi (474), Cristiano Ronaldo (311) and Karim Benzema (238).
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