5 club legends who wouldn't make their club's current XI

#1 Radamel Falcao at Atletico Madrid – due to Antoine Griezmann

"El Tigre" Radamel Falcao

If there was one player who represented Diego Simeone’s revolution at Atletico Madrid more than any other, a lot of fans would point to Radamel Falcao. The Colombian international was a revelation up front for Atleti over a period of two seasons and earned the nickname ‘El Tigre’ for his ferocious striking style in front of goal.

His goalscoring record for Atletico was simply fantastic – 52 league goals over two seasons – and their fans were broken when he was sold to Monaco for around £51m in the summer of 2013.

They needn’t have worried, though. For a season, Diego Costa took over Falcao’s striking mantle at the Vicente Calderon, but he was then sold to Chelsea in the summer of 2014. Falcao’s true replacement – and the reason why even at his peak, he probably wouldn’t make today’s Atleti team – was signed in the summer of 2014 from Real Sociedad. His name? Antoine Griezmann.

Antoine Griezmann has proven more important at Atletico Madrid than Radamel Falcao was

It took Griezmann just over two seasons to surpass Falcao as the man who’d scored the most goals for Atletico under Diego Simeone, and he’s since gone on to rack up 65 league goals and 91 overall.

But unlike Falcao – a pure striker if there ever was one – Griezmann offers so much more as Atleti’s key attacking outlet. He’s scored goals with both feet, with his head, and from the penalty spot, and he’s often played from the right wing rather than an out-and-out striker.

You could argue that Falcao at his peak could probably play alongside Griezmann at Atletico – as Diego Costa and Fernando Torres are both doing now – but who knows how the styles of the two players would mesh? And in all honesty, for as good as Falcao was for Atletico, their fans would probably all take Griezmann over him at this stage.