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Madrid, Atlético Madrid training base.
The night floodlights shone on the seven-a-side field, looking somewhat quiet under the Madrid night sky.
Only Griezmann, standing in the middle of it, looked a bit uneasy.
"Lance, why do this?"
"One round?"
"There's no need for that, right? We're all friends, no matter where we go."
"One round."
Lance's expression didn't change, but his tone was firmer.
"Damn!"
Griezmann muttered a complaint.
Even though he had more seniority at Atlético Madrid than Lance, and even though he was older than Lance, after last season's performance, Lance's status in the football world had far surpassed Griezmann's.
Standing in front of this 19-year-old young man, Griezmann always felt like he was a head shorter. Of course, he was also a head shorter in the physical sense.
"Afraid of you? As if!"
Griezmann took off his training jacket, threw his bag aside, stretched his body, and came to stand in front of Lance.
"Come on, you attack first. Five goals."
The rules for one-on-one were mostly the same: one attacks, one defends. If the ball is intercepted, they swap roles. Scoring into the unguarded small goal counts as one point. Long shots are not allowed; one must complete a dribble before shooting. The first to five goals wins.
Five goals might seem like a small number, but in a high-intensity 1v1, it is very difficult to score in that damn small goal during open play.
"Come on!"
Griezmann seemed to be building up his own courage. He shouted, took the ball, and gradually closed in.
The duel began!
Griezmann didn't take it seriously at first, habitually using step-overs and rhythm changes to change direction and dribble. The intent was too obvious; even an amateur defender could easily defend against it.
Not to mention Lance, who often played as a midfielder, was coached by Europe's top defensive coaches every day, and possessed the Muscle Memory of defensive masters like Cannavaro and Shō Shunko.
Lance was no longer the biased student from his Bundesliga days who only knew how to dribble flashily and couldn't defend. Although his current physical strength was not world-class and he still couldn't compete with strong, burly defenders, bullying Griezmann was a piece of cake.
With a light physical challenge to squeeze out space, followed by using experience to accurately block the route and stick a foot in to disrupt, it was a perfect defense.
"You're good." Griezmann smiled awkwardly.
"Are you kidding me? This is your level? Barcelona wants you? Do it again!"
"???"
Griezmann was stunned.
It was clearly Lance's ball possession, yet he gave it back to him? Griezmann felt a sense of being looked down upon.
"Who are you looking down on! Be careful, or you won't be able to defend against me if I get serious!"
Griezmann's temper flared as well.
During his time at Atlético Madrid, he was originally the absolute superstar under Simeone, the number one player in the attacking midfield wearing the number 7 jersey. After Lance joined, Griezmann was just Lance's "assistant," equivalent to Robin standing by Batman's side.
Griezmann had his pride too.
One of the reasons for his transfer to Barcelona was precisely to escape Lance's shadow. De Bruyne, Hazard, and others all had the same thought. Griezmann going to Barcelona, although he would still be suppressed by Messi, at least Messi was relatively human compared to Lance.
Lance had already transcended the category of human. All Griezmann could feel was despair.
"Fuck!"
Getting serious, Griezmann entered beast mode, treating the 1v1 with the same attitude as the Champions League final. He used everything he had learned in his life: rhythm changes, feints with his feet and body center of gravity, and misdirection.
"Got you!"
Just as he prepared to hook the ball to the right, he suddenly knocked the ball and turned to break through to the left. He didn't expect that Lance had already anticipated his anticipation.
Lance extended his foot to steal the ball again.
Taking a few steps back to create distance, Lance used a simple Elastico to completely shake Griezmann to the ground.
Bang!
A powerful shot accurately blasted into the narrow goal! It hit the small goal so hard it almost shifted from its position.
Griezmann wasn't throwing the game; it was just that he really couldn't judge Lance's true intentions. Whenever he made a move, Lance could change his strategy on the fly. If he didn't make a move, he'd just have to wait to be squeezed out of position and have the distance opened up.
Body, technique, speed, experience. It was hard to imagine a 19-year-old could grow to this extent.
"Damn it!"
"Again?"
After scoring, Lance just smiled faintly and reached out to pull Griezmann up.
After getting up, Griezmann brushed Lance's hand away in a huff.
"No more."
The Frenchman picked up his bag from the side, grabbed his jacket, and turned to leave.
"Hey! Is there really no possibility of staying?"
"Sorry, I've already decided to sign."
"Fine. Get lost!"
"Sucker!"
Griezmann walked further and further away with his back to Lance, holding up his middle finger behind him.
Good brothers don't need too much sentimentality, but Griezmann was afraid that if he turned back, he would show a sad expression and let that guy Lance laugh at him.
There was one sentence neither of them said out loud. But they both recited it in their hearts simultaneously.
"Next season, when we meet again... we will be enemies."
...
"What? I just found out!"
"How is that possible? Why? Qué?"
"Lance, did Antoine say anything to you?"
"If you ask me, I don't know either."
The next day, the training base exploded.
The Atlético Madrid players in training camp heard the bad news one after another!
Griezmann had signed a contract with Barcelona at lightning speed! As long as the transfer fee between Barcelona and Atlético Madrid was agreed upon, Griezmann would officially become a Barcelona player!
This was definitely big news, no less than that of Pogba, Higuaín, and others, and could even be considered the biggest news in football! You have to know, even though Lance was the most prominent, Griezmann was also a treble superstar!
For a moment, the media and the internet exploded with massive news pushes, and Lance couldn't even be bothered to take a look.
One could guess with their feet how the media and fans would talk about it.
One faction was definitely the die-hard Atlético Madrid fans, cursing Griezmann as a traitor. One faction was the onlookers, stirring up trouble. The other faction was the Catalonia fans, welcoming Griezmann while spreading rumors about an "irreparable" rift between Lance and Griezmann.
Among them, Mundo Deportivo loved to spread rumors the most, rendering the internal strife of the "battle for the number one spot" in Atlético Madrid vividly, as if the reporters lived in the Atlético Madrid locker room every day.
"Forget it, don't pay attention to that guy, we still have Lance!"
Saúl was the most furious. He couldn't accept the betrayal of his good brother... pfft! They weren't good brothers anymore!
"I can only say, it's Antoine's own choice, let's respect him."
Koke was still the nice guy, able to understand Griezmann.
It was just a huge blow to the team; Atlético Madrid had to find an attacker in the market as soon as possible, such as Portugal's Benfica attacker, Gaitán, who had been rumored to be linked to Manchester United for countless years. In a rush to buy players, they would inevitably be ripped off by the "black shop" Benfica.
"Yeah, we still have Fernando Torres... Fernando Torres?"
Just as Godín was about to cue Torres, the 30-something veteran Torres had seen his physical performance decline rapidly and was no longer his former self, though at least he was still the undisputed choice for Atlético Madrid's front line.
However, as everyone's eyes focused on Torres, Torres also revealed a shy yet awkward smile.
"Sorry everyone... I'm afraid I can't walk to the end with you all."
"No way!!"
The Atlético Madrid locker room exploded completely!
In the summer of 2016, not only was Griezmann leaving. Why was Torres leaving too?
Atlético Madrid, having just won the treble, was already covered in a layer of deep gloom before the season even started.