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It’s no secret that Antoine Griezmann is having a tough time at Barcelona, and the France international’s poor form continued on Saturday against Getafe.
The World Cup winner kept his place in the starting XI and even played in his favored central position rather than out wide on the right. Yet Griezmann once again failed to find the back of the net and remains without a goal in La Liga in 2020-21.
Griezmann did spurn a glorious chance to open his account too after being played through on goal by 17-year-old Pedri. The 29-year-old only had goalkeeper David Soria to beat but instead blasted wastefully over the crossbar.
The France international’s troubles in front of goal were neatly summed up by this fairly crushing stat from Opta:
2 – After his first shot vs Getafe, Antoine Griezmann has just scored two goals out of 28 shots in #LaLiga 2020: 14 shots missed, seve shots blocked & five shots saved. Plugged
Griezmann lasted until the 80th minute when he was finally substituted by manager Ronald Koeman and replaced with 21-year-old new signing Francisco Trincao.
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Will Koeman Keep Faith with Griezmann?
It will be interesting to see if Koeman opts to keep faith with Griezmann, particularly with important games against Real Madrid in La Liga and Juventus in the Champions League coming up.
It’s not like the Dutch coach lacks for options either. Ansu Fati, Martin Braithwaite, Trincao, and Ousmane Dembele are all options to replace Griezmann in the starting XI.
Koeman had already made it clear in his pre-match press conference that his players need to perform if they are to keep their places in the team.
“I have no problem with Antoine. I can only play one No. 9, one No. 10, one No. 7 etc. I don’t play players out of position. Griezmann can play wide coming inside on his left foot. If he has another position that he likes more, that’s how it is, but we can’t have 10 players in the No. 10 role.
“I decide based on what’s best for the team. The coach is in charge and the players must be at their best when they play.”
The Barcelona manager has plenty to ponder now after seeing his team lack a real cutting edge against Getafe despite having a host of attacking talent on the pitch. The closest they came to a goal was in stoppage time when Braithwaite hit the woodwork.
Hungarian champions Ferencvaros are up next for Barcelona in the group stages of the Champions League at the Camp Nou in a match that the hosts will be expected to win comfortably.
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