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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Gareth Bicknell

How Antoine Griezmann integrated with Barcelona squad with help of games console

Antoine Griezmann has been bonding with his new Barcelona team-mates - by playing MarioKart 8 with his new pals.

Griezmann joined Barcelona from rivals Atletico Madrid in a controversial £108million move this summer.

And the French forward has been getting to know his team-mates by playing MarioKart 8 on Nintendo Switch .

Griezmann, a keen gamer, was urged to buy himself the console by fellow France international and new Barcelona team-mate Ousmane Dembele so he could join the club's MarioKart group, according to Spanish publication AS .

As well as Griezmann and Dembele, also in the group are Sergi Roberto, Carles Aleñá, and Gerard Piqué.

Griezmann with Barcelona and France team-mates Samuel Umtiti and Ousmane Dembele (David Ramos)

Griezmann will face competition from Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez with the pair racing to return from injury ahead of games against Valencia in La Liga on Saturday and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League next Tuesday.

Griezmann scored twice in Barcelona's 5-2 win over Real Betis - their only victory so far this season - but failed to fire in their opening draw against Osasuna or the defeat to Athletic Bilbao in their most recent game, with Barcelona down in eighth in the fledgling La Liga table.

It remains to be seen how Griezmann will fare when Messi and Suarez return - meanwhile his former club Atletico Madrid are top after three wins from three.

And Griezmann's former Atleti team-mate Diego Costa says there are no hard feelings over the Frenchman's exit .

He says says Griezmann cannot be blamed for making the move, saying it was natural he would want to test himself with the La Liga champions.

"[Griezmann's] dream was to play with Messi and Suarez," Spanish striker Costa said to Que Partidazo .

"As a footballer you always want to test yourself and it is normal that he would want to play there, to see if he can be an important player as he was at Atleti."

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