Griezmann voices support for under-fire Atlético captain Koke "Go for it Bro'!!"
The former Atlético forward sent a message to his old team mate on social media to give him a lift after he was whistled by fans at the Metropolitano.
The whistles from a small section of the home fans at the Wanda Metropolitano when Koke was substituted during Tuesday's visit from Bayer Leverkusen is still a talking point in the red and white half of the capital. The player himself said at an institututional event today that it's all water under the bridge as far as he is concerned: "I'm ok about it, I'm relaxed and I want to continue working hard. We are still only at the start, I'm feeling strong and I'm keen to help the team. I'll keep working like I've always done, as normal - you've got to keep going. I've had a lot of support from people and although there are some people who aren't happy about how I am playing, I have complete faith in myself, the club has faith in me, the coach believes in me too - as do alot of other people. I'll keep training and working like I have always done".
Koke: "Atlético is a family, we support each other"
While a few whistled the midfielder, it was soon drowned out by applause as Simeone encouraged the crowd to applaud Koke. Later, Álvaro Morata made a point of running over to his team mate to celebrate scoring what turned out to be the winning goal. "This is a team. We've always worked as one and when one of us isn't having the best of times we support each other; we're a family and that's the way it has always been for us atléticos, we support one another and that's the way it should be".
Support for Koke didn't just come from his close circle at Atlético, but also from Barcelona. His old team mate Antoine Griezmann sent a message to cheer his pal up via Instagram, writing a caption underneath a photo of Koke working out in today's training session: "Go for it Bro' hermano!!! CAPTAIN!!!".