Atletico Madrid star takes the blame for Chelsea defeat

Antoine Griezmann took the blame for Atletico Madrid

In truth, Atletico Madrid’s failure to hold off Chelsea was a team effort. That isn’t stopping the club’s biggest star from taking the blame. Sensational forward Antoine Griezmann clearly wasn’t happy with his performance against the defending Premier League champions.

Griezmann bluntly told the Spanish press that he “didn’t play well” in his club’s narrow defeat. He did score Atletico’s only goal via the penalty spot, but otherwise he struggled to really get in the groove. Certainly part of that was due to Chelsea’s control of the midfield for the majority of the match.

Still, there’s something admirable about Griezmann trying to take the blame on his shoulders. He is the club’s biggest name and is generally their best player. His public admission of guilt is a clear signal he’s trying to take the pressure off his teammates as the Group stage progresses.

The reality is Griezmann was rated as the third best Atletico player in the match via Whoscored.com. A player rating of 7.0 isn’t anything for the Frenchman to brag about, but it’s not as if he was poor on the evening. His rating is slightly inflated by slotting home a penalty, but the point is that he had plenty of company in his mediocrity against the Blues.

Of course, the true test for Griezmann and his teammates will be when they travel to Stamford Bridge. If he really wants to be regarded as one of the world’s best players, then he’ll be expected to show up big in the return fixture. That might be unfair given all he’s accomplished, but the world of football has turned into a “what have you done for me lately” business.

Chelsea should expect Diego Simeone and company to come to England with a different game plan. In particular, the La Liga giants may elect to depart from their favoured 4-4-2 formation next time out against Antonio Conte’s squad. Tactically speaking, it was a poor fit against Chelsea’s wingbacks in this match. That advantage only figures to increase when Chelsea are on their home ground.

Antoine Griezmann deserves a lot of credit for taking the blame for his teammates’ inability to close out the match against Chelsea. Atletico Madrid fans will hope his actions speak louder than his words the next time they tangle with the Blues.