Diego Forlan: In Griezmann and Godin, Atletico Madrid have the quality to win the Champions League

Diego Simeone's side are a formidable force in Europe, and having suffered heartbreak in the finals of 2014 and 2016, this season could finally be their chance to win European club football's biggest prize.

Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann celebrates scoring their second goal against Bayer Leverkusen with Koke and teammates. Wolfgang Rattay / Reuters

Diego Forlan writes a weekly column for The National, appearing each Friday. The former Manchester United, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid striker has been the top scorer in Europe twice and won the Golden Boot at the 2010 World Cup. Forlan's column is written with the assistance of European football correspondent Andy Mitten.

A sign of just how far Atletico Madrid have progressed since I joined the club a decade ago is that nobody was remotely surprised when they beat Bayer Leverkusen away 4-2 in a Uefa Champions League last-16 game this week. That is a Bayer team who went unbeaten in six group games, who beat Tottenham Hotspur away and Monaco at home.

When I was in Madrid, the club did not play in the Champions League and they had not won a trophy since 1996. The team I played in with Sergio Aguero, David de Gea et al changed all that. We got into Europe and we won trophies. But Diego Simeone has taken Atletico to another level. Under him, they broke the Barcelona-Real Madrid duopoly in Spain which many considered impossible. They reached the Champions League final twice in three years, in 2014 and 2016, beaten by Real Madrid each time. It was cruel watching those games. Atletico have been luckless in all three of the European Cup finals they have played in.

I really hope this is their year. The current side are interesting to watch. They have to change their team each season because they have sold so many of their best players, yet their level barely drops. Though league leaders Real Madrid lost to Valencia on Wednesday, it is unlikely that Atletico are going to win the Primera Liga this year. After tweaking their playing style, they started the league slowly, drawing their first two games against promoted sides. They lost three out of four games at the end of October and the beginning of November.

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Atletico have been improving, though. They are unbeaten in eight league games, and their European form has been excellent. They won their opening five Champions League group matches to qualify as leaders ahead of Bayern Munich. They are really coming together as a team and have just enjoyed a couple of great weeks which has shown not only their quality, but their spirit.

First, they came from behind at home to Celta Vigo to win 3-2 with two late goals. In the next league game, substitute Kevin Gameiro scored a hat-trick in less than five minutes at Sporting Gijon, and got another goal in Leverkusen. Antoine Griezmann also scored in Germany. He is the star of the team, the one being linked with a record move to Manchester United, though he maintains that he is happy at Atletico.

I will always speak well of both clubs after my time with them, but Griezmann has had plenty to be happy about at the Vicente Calderon. He is a match winner, as he proved in the Celta game, while Gameiro is becoming a super-sub. He set up the winner against Celta; the team is full of really talented players, young and old, with a serious amount of experience in big matches, too. This includes my old teammates Gabi and Koke, both Atletico fans from Madrid, and my Uruguayan compatriots in the centre of defence, Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez, not to mention the full-back Felipe Luis. Jan Oblak is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, continuing a fine tradition at a club. And let us not forget Saul Niguez and Yannick Carrasco, Angel Correa and Stefan Savic. There is quality everywhere.

I see a team determined to win the Champions League. They have been stung twice in those finals and were badly hurt. Simeone doesn’t often show hurt, but he did after the penalty shoot-out defeat in Milan last May.

Nobody will want to draw Atletico in the last eight. They are so hard to score against and even though they are fourth in La Liga, no team has a better defence than them, with only 19 conceded in 23 games. They have built from the back and their defensive record has long shown that, yet they are a dangerous team to play against. Attack them too strongly and they have the quality to counter attack quickly and score with their exceptional forwards. They are patient. They draw their opponents in and soak up their pressure, their energy and their confidence. Then they can sting them. Gijon could not believe what was happening to them last week.

I’ve mentioned the double Gs – Griezmann and Gameiro – but Fernando Torres is still a big influence. A hero to the fans, he has scored four goals in the past four games, including one in Leverkusen.

Atletico were seen as a club who punched above their weight when they won the league in 2014, but it was no freak. It was merely the start in proving themselves as one of the very best teams in the world, one good enough to go toe-to-toe against Barcelona and Bayern Munich in European competition and knock them out of it.

This team of Simeone is now more experienced than ever, and that matters in Europe. They will be determined to win the Champions League and they have other factors in their favour. They do not face the same pressure in the league because they have not been considered part of the title race this season.

They also have the support of the Calderon. It has always been loud, but now, as they prepare to move to a new stadium on the other side of Madrid, every big game is going to be emotional and a sell out. Real Madrid may have superior players overall, but Atletico have a strong feeling and identity. They have come a long way together and sport can reward such great stories. It can also crush them. It would be justice if this great side were crowned champions of Europe, something I really think they are capable of.

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