Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann did not name Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo when answering a question about who he feels is La Liga’s greatest ever player.
Griezmann, 34, has registered 202 goals and 97 assists in 546 La Liga appearances across spells at Real Sociedad, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
The France international, who won 137 caps for his country and helped them win the 2018 World Cup, has played with and against the very best players of the last 15 years, including Messi, Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe.
However, when asked who he thought was the greatest La Liga star of all time, he opted for another icon rather than the aforementioned trio.
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During an interview with ESPN, the 34-year-old was asked several questions, including “Who is the best finisher?” to which he replied: “Didier Drogba”.
When asked who the best playmaker was, he answered: “[Andres] Iniesta”, before naming Marcel Desailly as the best defender, Gianluigi Buffon as the best goalkeeper, Ronaldinho as the best dribbler, while saying Zinedine Zidane was the player with the most aura.
The forward then continued to answer and dubbed Messi and Ronaldo as the best two players of all time while snubbing the pair when naming the best player to have played in La Liga.
And despite playing alongside Messi 85 times during their time at Barcelona, Griezmann opted for Barca icon Johan Cruyff as his answer to the final question.
Cruyff is widely regarded as the man who developed the ‘total football’ style of play, which has been present at Barcelona for the best part of half a century.
The Dutchman played for the club between 1973 and 1978, winning La Liga and the Copa del Rey as well as securing the 1973 and 1974 Ballon d’Or.
He had earlier won the accolade in 1971 while playing for Ajax in his native Netherlands.
In his 180 appearances for Barca, he registered 60 goals and 28 assists before signing for the Los Angeles Aztecs in 1979.
He later went on to manage the Catalan club between 1988 and 1996, with his tenure coinciding with Barca winning four consecutive La Liga titles and the 1991-92 European Cup.
Messi himself paid homage to Cruyff following the Dutchman’s death in 2016 and described him as a “legend”.
Pep Guardiola also took inspiration from Cruyff’s teachings in his early managerial career and dubbed him a “teacher and revolutionary” following his passing.
Speaking to RAC1, Guardiola said: “He made us understand football. His advice was very important. He advised you to use your instincts, to take decisions. He opened your eyes.
"He always said that if you follow your instincts, you can never go wrong. Football is such a complicated game that you become a coach because you want to control it.
"You think you will dominate it with what you do or what you say, but it's impossible to dominate it unless you are Messi. And Johan helped us to do so."
Topics: Antoine Griezmann, Barcelona, Cristiano Ronaldo, Football, Johan Cruyff, La Liga, Lionel Messi, ESPN
Luke Davies