Atletico Madrid dramatically beat Espanyol 2-1 in Sunday's La Liga match. Simeone was forced to innovate in this game so he could squeeze Griezmann into his starting line-up, and he sent out an unusual attacking line that put Griezmann, Suarez, Correa, Marcos Llorente and Carrasco in an attacking combination. However, such an attacking combination did not bring good results to Atletico
Returning to Atletico, Griezmann spent 58 minutes on the pitch, and Griezmann did not allow him to play his due role. It also shows that there are still many problems to be dealt with when he returns to the game after two years in Barcelona.
As the coach tried to achieve that goal, several tactical tweaks were made, including three half-time substitutions and group changes (5-4-1 became 4-3-3) and finally replaced Griezmann after atletico were still 1-0 behind after playing for an hour. He touched the ball 33 times, completed 17 passes and shot twice, both outside the target. While his French teammate Thomas Lemar scored a dramatically winning goal in the 10th minute of injury time, he played far more than Griezmann at the same time on the pitch. Griezmann was clearly struggling with his return to Atletico Madrid, and after a tough game he won after he was replaced, it must not feel too good.
Of course, it is too early to draw conclusions, Griezmann still needs time to adapt, and we believe he will perform better!