GOAL

Antoine Griezmann has slammed racist remarks made about Ansu Fati in the Spanish press following their 5-1 win in the Champions League against Ferencvaros on Tuesday. 

The 17-year-old attacker enjoyed a fine performance at Camp Nou as he scored the club's second before teeing up Philippe Coutinho for Barca's third goal just after half-time. 

Despite Fati's great showing, the Spain international was subjected to racist reporting from ABC, a Spanish newspaper outlet. 

"Ansu was close to scoring with a kick of a pure striker, perfectly turning his body. Ansu when running has something similar to a gazelle, he looks like a young and black street seller, the one you could see running in the Paseo de Gracia shouting "water, water" when the policemen arrive," the report read.

"Postcards of a jungle in the heart of the city. Now it doesn't happen anymore because of Ada Colau [Mayor of Barcelona], the delinquents are the policemen and not the street sellers, who don't need to run away quickly anymore. It is true that without tourists, their business goes down." 

The shocking remarks were seen by Griezmann, who was quick to shame the outlet on social media and leap to the defence of his young team-mate. 

"Ansu is an exceptional boy who deserves respect just like all other human beings," Griezmann posted on Twitter. "No to racism and no to bad manners." 

After breaking though at Camp Nou last season, Fati has enjoyed a stellar start to the 2020-21 campaign and is currently Barcelona's leading goalscorer in all competitions. 

Despite his fine form and quick rise to stardom, the teenager has kept his feet firmly on the ground and was quick to praise his team-mates after another strong showing on Tuesday. 

"Thanks to all my team-mates, they make things easy for me," he told Movistar post-match. "Messi is still Messi. He can score in any action. We are very happy to have him here with us and I continue to learn from him."

Barcelona next face rivals Real Madrid in La Liga action on Saturday with both clubs going into the season's first El Clasico on the back of shock league losses at the hands of Getafe and Cadiz respectively.