Antoine Griezmann is living his second season at Barcelona with more pain than glory. The French international, who still cannot find the path that will lead him to regularity on the field, has lost in recent weeks until the start, to the detriment of a sacrificed Martin Braithwaite, who has known how to take advantage of his opportunities based on goals and work.
This situation, totally anomalous in the forward's career, has made him a secondary player in the team, who seems not to miss him on the pitch., based on the results when he is not in the field. In fact, his last performance against Eibar, where he declined to take the penalty, was widely criticized by the environment, offering an image of weakness and insecurity to the group.
But if in the field he has an increasingly less leading role, in the locker room his role has grown this season. His attitude, always positive despite adversity, and highly outgoing character, have made him one of the undisputed references in the wardrobe.
Two specific events have made the group win even more and show their absolute prominence off the pitch. The first happened on November 24 in Kiev, tAfter winning the team 0-4 against Dinamo in the Champions League, when on the return trip to the airport, Griezmann took the microphone of the coach to sing happy birthday to Pedri, coinciding that at those precise moments he was reaching 18 years of age. The Frenchman became the true master of ceremonies of an impromptu party that lasted during the plane on the return trip.
The second happened almost a month later, on December 22, when the team returned from Valladolid, after winning 0-3. As soon as they arrived at the Ciutat Esportiva, at the stroke of three in the morning, the players found themselves with the pleasant surprise of a gift at the box office. Griezmann had been in charge of acting as an improvised Santa Claus and make a small detail to the squad, taking advantage of the fact that this year the club had not given anything to the players, since the economic situation of the entity is not for many expenses. The gift was not trivial either: products and accessories from the French luxury brand, Louis Vuitton.
A circumstance, which Although it can be considered as a mere chance, it did not go unnoticed in the squad, it was the absence of Leo Messi on both occasions. In the first, the Argentine was not called up for the match in Kiev, and in the second, the forward did not accompany the group back to Barcelona: he took a private plane in Pucela to Argentina.