Griezmann's complicated rotation

The importance of each of the seven matches that Atlético de Madrid will face in the next three weeks forces Diego Pablo Simeone to give oxygen to his most decisive players. The issue is complex when it comes to Antoine Griezmann (33 years old). Simeone assumes that the French attacker is already in a phase of his career in which he plays as much for what he has been, as because his kicks still win games. Saturday's game at Mestalla against Valencia was the latest example that his quality is still decisive. The first two goals for Atlético came from his left boot, the work of his partner Julián Alvarez.

Griezmann remains Simeone's most lucid attacking player. This season he has kept him in games where he was missing or physically outclassed and ended up being decisive in the result with decisive actions. In the League he has eight goals and five assists and in the Champions League he has registered six goals and two assists.

It is not easy for Simeone to choose when to rest his favourite player, who he defends tooth and nail for everything he has given him and still hopes he will give him. Tonight, with a return match in between, with Saturday's match against Athletic at the Metropolitano and the visit to the Bernabéu on Tuesday for the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, he could be a substitute for Griezmann. However, leaving the Frenchman out means that the coach is doing without a player who is very necessary for the combination game. Barcelona's suffocating pressure forces them to have players with good feet who break lines and the Frenchman seems essential for that task.

USA

“Griezmann is a player who gives us a step forward in quality. Like everyone, he sometimes has games in which he doesn't perform as we would like, but my job is to manage his game in the best way possible. I have complete confidence in him,” said Simeone ahead of the Valencia game.

Simeone's blind bet on Griezmann has Sorloth as the victim. Another difficult management issue for the coach because the Norwegian has delivered important goals when he has been required. It was precisely the Nordic striker who gave Cholo the first victory away against Barcelona last December. Simeone admitted that he had had several conversations with the Norwegian striker to convince him that his role, even if it means coming off the bench, is important. Sorloth had a hard time understanding it and still does when he sees Griezmann's intermittent performances in some games. The case is complicated to resolve for the giant because he competes with the coach's and the club's flagship player.

The end of the Frenchman's career as a red-and-white player is getting closer every day, but he still has the full confidence of the coaching staff. The club signed Julián Alvarez this summer with the expectation that this could be Griezmann's last season, who has never hidden his desire to play and live in the United States. He will turn 34 next month and when he returned to Atlético, after his time at Barcelona, ​​he announced to Miguel Ángel Gil Marín that his intention was to end his career in the American championship. At the club, so far, they say that nothing can be predicted yet with his future, despite the fact that he has one more year of contract left. If he resigns, the club will free up wages, which will be good for him to take on a contract. Griezmann is linked with Los Angeles FC, where his friends Oliver Giroud and Hugo Lloris play. With both of them he formed the core of the France team that won the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

While his future is being decided, Griezmann is trying to enjoy the freedom that Simeone has given him on the pitch. This season, the coach asked him in pre-season to do everything possible to form an effective partnership with Julián Alvarez and he has fulfilled his promise.

Griezmann has the freedom to choose when he drops back to receive the ball. He moves all over the attacking front depending on his reading of the matches. When he drops back from the area he loses goals, but for Simeone the continuity he can give to the attacking game with his associative play is priceless. For one reason or another, and despite those intermittent moments he shows in some matches, Griezmann still sets the pace of Atlético's attack.