The Frenchman was left as an unused substitute in FC Barcelona’s 2-0 win away to Sevilla in LaLiga on Saturday evening.
Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman insisted his decision to leave Antoine Griezmann on the bench was purely for tactical reasons during the 2-0 win over Sevilla.
Griezmann, who has featured in 23 of Barcelona’s 25 league games this season, has played only 14 minutes of football in the club’s last two outings. After a short cameo in the 3-0 win over Elche, he stayed benched for the triumph in Andalusia.
Koeman used four substitutes in the match in Ronald Araujo, Ilaix Moriba, Martin Braithwaite, and Samuel Umtiti. Two of them, however, were for the injured Pedri and Araujo, while Braithwaite’s greater speed gave him the nod over Griezmann to replace Ousmane Dembele.
“There is no message for Griezmann,” said Koeman as quoted on Diario AS. “We decided to change the system to have depth in the team and that is why we put Dembele up front.
“With his replacement, we needed someone faster than Antoine.”
Dembele and Lionel Messi scored the goals to seal a solid victory for the Blaugrana, who moved to within two points off LaLiga leaders Atletico Madrid for the time being.
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