Antoine Griezmann is a footballing genius. It isn't said enough, and he doesn't often get the paeans that usually come with skill of his level, but none of that detracts from the base fact. Against Real Valladolid on Saturday, he once again showed that sometimes he can do things on a football field that can only be conceptualised, and executed, by him.
When you see it first, you think there's a slight glitch in the matrix. The ball's moving way too smoothly, the man's going around in circles... what even is happening?
The whole move really kickstarts at Griezmann's feet. Of course. Receiving the ball from Giovanni Simeone's in-field pass from the right wing, Griezmann takes a touch, does a high-speed shimmy of his hips before playing it out left for Julian Alvarez and taking off. A one-time pass is played right back at him. Now, Alvarez's pass back to Griezmann is perfect in terms of being a bit too far for Eray Comert's lunge, but not so perfect for Griezmann in that it places the ball a bit behind him.
At this point, the flow should be broken, the play reset -- surely Griezmann needs a touch? For he receives the ball half-open (perpendicular to goal) but the ball's way too in between his feet for him to get a first-time shot off. You, me, the whole stadium expects him to take that touch, get the ball out of his feet, and then take the shot... except he doesn't.
Which is when the glitch kicks in. The flow keeps flowing, the move keeps moving, the ball keeps rolling -- in a place where they had no logical right to continue -- and it's all just a touch disconcerting. Incredibly pleasant aesthetically, but puzzling to the logical brain. Which is why it works so well.
Dragging the ball behind him with his left foot, he spins completely around and then a bit more to look Valladolid keeper Karl Hein in the eye. A 270-degree turn, with the ball being casually redirected to goal, and it's flummoxed everyone. The hesitation caused by that 'what-did-I-just-see' moment is enough for Griezmann to then nudge a low chip calmly past a belatedly advancing Hein and into the far corner of the net.
It was the kind of move that let everyone on the field know they were a level or two below him, the kind that has even rival fans in the stands on their feet and applauding, the kind that makes everyone go "wow".
This was the fourth goal of the match, one which Atleti won 5-0 to close the gap at the top to two. Over the past few games, they have been the form team in LaLiga, and even after so many years, it's Griezmann magic that keeps them going.
He's at goal 188 now for the club, just short of being the first Atleti player to ever hit 200, and it doesn't look like he's stopping anytime soon. The best part? At 33 years old and now retired from internationals, he continues to make us all go "wow" week-in, week-out.
And so, for that wonderful piece of magic, for making us go "wow" once again, Antoine Griezmann takes our Moment of the Weekend