After his first official match with FC Barcelona, we need to talk about Antoine Griezmann’s evident improvement with the squad.
After Messi left, it was clear that FC Barcelona would need Antoine Griezmann as one of the team’s leaders who could help them win. The Frenchman only needed one match in order to prove he is willing to take that responsibility. We will try to break down his latest performance and his overall behavior with the squad both on and off the pitch. For starters, Griezmann is one of the players who had the most activity last season throughout Europe.
Alongside Pedri or Bruno Fernandes, Griezmann played a grand total of 68 matches between all competitions. Ever since he arrived back at training with the squad, he’s always shown the younger generations that he is willing to make any sacrifice for the squad. As a starter last weekend, Griezmann proved he is ready to keep making those efforts. We saw him playing at the highest level with no physical issues while making defensive efforts throughout the entire match.
Griezmann knows what’s at stake.
Not choosing to lower his salary at the club is a major source of discontent among the club’s supporters. They basically blame him and another couple of players for Leo Messi leaving the club. However, the reality is that Leo also didn’t want other players to lose their income because of him. Griezmann is one of those players but that also adds a ton of responsibility to him this season.
Alongside Memphis, the French forward is one of the stars who needs to step up his game and become the main star within the squad. He needs to forget about replacing Messi because that’s impossible. What he needs to do is try to get back to that star player he became during his Atletico Madrid days. If Griezmann finds that version of himself, FC Barcelona will be fine for the foreseeable future. The season just started and there is still a lot to prove from not only Griezmann but the entire FC Barcelona squad.