Let’s be honest, it was a boring night of football in Madrid. Wanda Metropolitano Stadium welcomed the Champions League opener between the home team of Atletico Madrid and the guests from Porto. It was a goalless draw and really little to nothing to say about the game itself.Therefore other things caught the attention of the public. The return of Antoine Griezmann among the champions of Spain and at their home turf being one of few. And it was not a warm welcome.The France forward is on loan at Atletico from Barcelona, with Madrid also having an option to purchase him outright next summer.But far from being given a welcome return by supporters, he was loudly booed as he came on as a second half substitute.Once there was a team, they were called BarcelonaAtleti supporters are still unhappy over his initial departure to the Nou Camp and they wanted to be sure Griezmann is aware of that. When his name and number were read out before the Champions League tie on the stadium sound system, boos started echoing across the stands. There were fans in the crowd of nearly 40,000 who applauded the former Real Sociedad footballer but they were not nearly as loud as those who protested.Griezmann played five seasons with Atlético before leaving when Barcelona paid 150 million USD.##EDITORS_CHOICE##And sort-of expectedly, the 30-year-old was booed when he came onto the pitch, with most in the crowd at the Wanda expressing their discontentment with how the France forward left the club while beeing one of manager Diego Simeone’s star assets. ‘Everyone is making a big deal out of this situation,’ Simeone said. ‘Hopefully he will keep improving so he can answer those who are criticising him now. He has a challenge ahead of him because of what happened in the past.’What hurt the Atletico fans the most was the push-me-pull-you game Griezmann played. In 2018, he made a TV show called ‘The Decision’, over whether he would stay or leave Atletico that summer. He confirmed he would stay but eventually left for Barca.Sat, 18/9, 17.15: (1.70) ATL. MADRID (3.60) ATH. BILBAO (6.25)Eduardo Fernandez, the president of the Atletico de Madrid International Penas Union, spoke ahead of Wednesday’s match.’A part of the public will whistle and insult him, that’s for sure. When his name is announced and as soon as he touches the ball.’, Fernandez explained to L’Equipe.’There is a disenchantment. Before, he was our idol. Now he’s just a player like any other. He doesn’t represent much anymore. His image has seriously deteriorated. We’re all still hurt by what he did. Time is going to see our pain heal. He will have to regain our trust and our love.’It is up to him to be forgiven and to redeem himself. How? ‘Or’ What? By sweating the jersey and scoring. When he sets important goals, little by little things will get back to normal. Because he can once again become the great player he was, I am convinced.’Who’ll lift the Champions League? The ‘obsessed’ Parisians, holders Chelsea or some old champion?From what was seen against Porto, he will have to work a lot more to get the affection from the fans. It was an overall poor performance from the La Liga title holders.’We tried until the end but unfortunately things didn’t goal our way,’ Atletico keeper Jan Oblak said. ‘Porto defended well and was dangerous in the counterattacks.’As the campaign proceeds, both Griezmann and the whole Atletico community hope he will revive his form from the previous spell with Los Colchoneros.
