March 30, (THEWILL) – Antoine Griezmann has written his name into La Liga history by becoming the non-Spanish player with the most appearances in the competition. The French forward made his 521st La Liga appearance during Atletico Madrid’s 1-1 draw against Espanyol, moving past the previous record of 520 set by Lionel Messi during his time at Barcelona.
The record was previously held by Donato, who amassed 466 appearances before Messi surpassed him in January 2020. Messi’s final La Liga match came in May 2021, a 2-1 defeat to Celta Vigo at Camp Nou, which marked his 520th appearance in the Spanish top flight. Griezmann matched this total during a 4-2 defeat to Barcelona before the international break, and has now claimed the record outright.
Griezmann’s path to this milestone began at Real Sociedad, where he made his professional debut in September 2009. Following four seasons in La Liga with La Real, during which he made 140 appearances and scored 40 goals, he moved to Atletico Madrid in 2014 for €30 million. His impact was immediate, scoring 22 goals in his first season under Diego Simeone. The Frenchman continued to impress, becoming the second French player after Karim Benzema to reach 100 La Liga goals in 2016.
A less successful spell at Barcelona followed between 2019 and 2021, before Griezmann returned to Atletico initially on loan and then permanently. Despite a slow start to his second stint with Los Colchoneros, scoring just three league goals in the 2021/2022 campaign, he rediscovered his form in subsequent seasons. The 2022/2023 campaign saw him contribute to 31 goals in La Liga alone, the highest in the competition. He later overtook Luis Aragones to become Atletico’s all-time top scorer with 174 goals.
Now 34 years old, Griezmann remains a key figure in Atletico’s title challenge this season. With 308 of his 521 La Liga appearances coming for Atletico Madrid, he is also on the verge of another significant achievement. He sits just two goals away from reaching 200 in La Liga, which would make him the sixth non-Spanish player to hit this milestone and only the fourth player in the 21st century to do so, joining Messi (474), Cristiano Ronaldo (311), and Karim Benzema (238) in this exclusive club.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
