Barcelona fans finally forgive Antoine Griezmann as he sprinkles stardust at Camp Nou

At a time when Barcelona needed a sprinkle of stardust, Antoine Griezmann provided it.

This was the French forward's night and he has the photos to prove it. After scoring his second, the club's €120 million summer signing sought out Barca's social media manager behind the Gol Nord at Camp Nou, held out his hands while he was given confetti and then threw it in the air as he received the adulation of the fans who had insulted him less than five months earlier.

"Griezmann, bastard, out of Camp Nou," that same sector of supporters had sung during Barca's 1-1 draw with Atletico in April, appearing to veto his signing after the way he went back on his decision to join the Blaugrana last year.

But negotiations were already under way by then, now he is here and on Sunday, he announced his arrival. Following a difficult debut at San Mames as Barca lost to Athletic Club in their La Liga opener, the 28-year-old is now up and running as a Barca player.

After the Catalans had gone behind against the run of play to a Nabil Fekir goal with 15 minutes on the clock, Griezmann latched on to a Sergi Roberto pass over the top to volley home the leveller late in the first half.

And five minutes into the second period, he fired Barca in front with a brilliant left-footed curler from the edge of the box on the right side. That was the goal which sparked his iconic Lebron James-style celebration.

"How beautiful to score at the Camp Nou," he wrote on Twitter afterwards. "Thanks for the support culés, let our colours shine."

In the crowd, Messi and Suarez smiled as they watched the Frenchman's confetti celebration.

"I'm preparing something special for my first Barca goal," Griezmann had said in July. And although this was actually his second strike, he stayed true to hs word.

On the goal itself, he said: "I see Leo doing that in training and I tried to copy it. And on the celebration, he added: "I liked it when Lebron James did that ritual. And we tried to copy it."

He had borrowed from the playbook of two of the world's greatest sportsmen, but it did not matter. "This was an important day for Griezmann," Valverde admitted. "A lot of people were waiting and he responded with guarantees."

"He wanted to make his mark," Betis boss Rubi said. "With two bits of genius, he hurt us. We didn't know how to stop him."

And it was not only Griezmann. Young striker Carles Perez, left-back Jordi Alba and substitute Arturo Vidal all scored in an ultimately one-sided encounter which, like last season, featured seven goals. Back then, Betis won 4-3; this time Barca thrashed them 5-2.

The iconic photos dominated the Catalan press on Monday morning. "Festival Griezmann," Mundo Deportivo wrote on their front page. And Sport said, simply, "Take-off".

Griezmann is up and away at Camp Nou and Barca's season is also off the ground after a slick win which which featured some of their most fluid football in a long time, even without many of their stars.

Reports of their demise were greatly exaggerated, while Griezmann is finally forgiven and also very welcome now at Camp Nou. After take-off, it is onwards and upwards for Antoine and Barca in 2019-20.