Last December 12, Atlético left the Santiago Bernabéu with the feeling of having left the few options they still had to fight for LaLiga and with a Griezmann who faced a path to the infirmary hitherto unknown to him throughout his stage as a rojiblanco.
The Frenchman had been Simeone’s bet along with Cunha on the attacking front, but a very hard stomp by Carvajal with a consequent blow to the thigh forced him to leave the field of play at half-time. An action in which Mateu, who had been allowed to continue, did not punish the Whites’ side beyond a verbal warning. Real Madrid won the derby with superiority (2-0) and the resonance to which Griezmann underwent the following day detected muscular discomfort which forced him to make a long-term stop for the first time at Atlético, a situation that had never occurred in his first five seasons at the club before leaving for Barcelona (Only one game was lost due to physical discomfort in five years: against Betis on December 10, 2017).
And, turning thirty, Griezmann had to face the worst evil of any footballer. Weeks of rehabilitation, work to overcome physical problems and the spread of coronavirus when he saw the light at the end of the tunnel before taking a second big disappointment. On January 6, the Frenchman dressed as a Christmas present for the young athletes in the stands of the Wanda Metropolitano. He came on after the break against Rayo Majadahonda and scored a great goal to the delight of the mattress fans, the eighth of the season… before suffering again that pain in his thigh that seems to have moved to his head.
An internal hammering, after a virtually injury-free career and a relapse that forced him to stop again for more than a month. In mid-February Simeone was able to count on Griezmann again, but not the Griezmann we all know. A player who sometimes seems timid to hit, as if the fear of relapse muscularly did not go out of his head. The Frenchman has participated in the team’s last 13 games, but he is in a hitherto unheard-of drought for Atletico. Two assists, the last at Old Trafford on March 15, is a very poor balance for a player of his relevance. Starting in nine of the last ten games, Griezmann has yet to return to his best version since that injury in the first leg derby at the Santiago Bernabéu. A kick that deeply affected the striker.
The match at the Wanda Metropolitano may be the best scenario to recoverreconnect with the goal (Atletico have only scored two goals in the last eight derbies against Real Madrid) and with sensations that seem to have abandoned him since that fateful December 12. The ‘8’ is now fighting for a place in the eleven with Cunha himself and with Correa. Without João Félix, no one has been able to assume that role that the Portuguese had been gaining over the course and that has the team without mordant in attack. There is no better or more special date for Griezmann to start being the true Griezmann again than a derby. The Frenchman seeks revenge to help him raise his head.