La Liga (Spanish League) Prediction Thread 2023/24

[KTChampions]

Griezmann's impact is Barcelona was way lower than was expected when they signed him. I doubt if his services will be missed. Depay seems to be stepping and trying to fill the gap left by Messi's departure, but we all know who Messi was in Barcelona. Depay can only do his best.

Personally, I think Barcelona will cope up with time, especially if the management is good. Right now, their biggest problem is the financial side of things.

How great was Greenzman's contribution to Barcelona's game can be judged at least after the season - all things are learned in comparison and are not always obvious. As you rightly noted now, the main problem of Barcelona is finance, if they can solve it, then we will again see the purchase of top stars like Ibrahimovic, Neymar, Greenzman, etc.

[xzone]

He's still capable of duels, I don't think he's going to be a substitute. Simone should have given him more playing time. It's a mistake for Barca to throw Griezman out, they don't have an experienced striker backing. Of course his move will make Atletico stronger because Simone has an alternative striker. Maybe he can be the key to athletico's victory.

Griezmann is a really talented football player. It is not right to evaluate the performances of such football players daily, not everyone can play well some times. I am sure he will be very successful once he gets used to the team. Barcelona is also not very happy with this loan, no one wants to lose such a player.
Atletico has been a very good team and they have very good players now

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

Griezmann is a really talented football player. It is not right to evaluate the performances of such football players daily, not everyone can play well some times. I am sure he will be very successful once he gets used to the team. Barcelona is also not very happy with this loan, no one wants to lose such a player.
Atletico has been a very good team and they have very good players now

Griezman has his best time in Atletico Madrid and he is used to be considered as a player who can compete for Ballon Dor with Messi and Ronaldo. His career falls after the transfer to Barcelona.

He won World Cup, Europa League before the transfer to Barcelona. In Barcelona, he got nothing and only pressure, disappointment.

The return to the club gives Griezman a good environment and a coach he is familiar with. It is a last chance for him to revive his career because he is no longer young.

[CryptoBuds]

Still not change with Barcelona style tiki taka passion where ball control and decision how dominance Barcelona passing in every match, I think that passion have been part of Barcelona and never gone although many player left Barcelona, after lost Xavi and Iniesta Barcelona still have style with football passion and dominance ball passion every match, looking character on midfielder of Barcelona Sergio Busquest and De Jong have style with Barcelona style and keep exist few season again.

Firstly, Barcelona plays Tiki Taka tactics. But it is doubtful whether Depay and Aguero will be able to adapt to this strategy. Because they have been playing with other tactics for so long. Barcelona has following more ball possession, less attack strategy. As we have seen in several matches of the previous season, Barcelona used defensive tactics in the first half, and in the second half they played with full offensive tactics. This time they must change their style of play if they want to perform well.

I think ronald koeman has changed the style of playing barcelona a bit now, before indeed the barcelona game often used tiki taka which was more dominant to attack, but we know that ronald koeman would prefer to use 4-3-3 tactics and combine it with tiki taka, so the current barcelona game is a high defensive line, Koeman's scheme makes two barcelona central defenders obliged to participate in building attacks and occasionally launching long passes that surprise the opposing defense, and in several barcelona matches that have occurred this season, i see a lot of barcelona players who are even out of position so that if they are against a team that has speed on the counter-attack, of course it will be very troublesome for Barcelona when facing such a fast counterattack.

The team has changed a lot since Koeman became the coach of the Barcelona team. He could not apply the strategy properly. He applied defensive tactics. But even if the match can be drawn when they follow defensive strategy, it is difficult to win the match. Moreover, Barcelona's defense is weak. The opponent can easily score from the counterattack. We have seen a lot of such incidents in the previous season. Koeman will have to follow some other strategy to make the team stronger. Since the players have changed, the strategy needs to change.

[Pulsar77]

The careers of Griezman and Suarez were quite interesting for me and they always seemed destined to be together, if I'm not mistaken, these two players have been rivals twice and twice as teammates .
We know that in the past, griezman was a atletico madrid  player and suarez are Barcelona players (rivals) then in 2019, griezman moved to barcelona and played with suarez (duet friends), but in 2020 barcelona sold suarez to Atletico madrid and griezman remained in barcelona (rivals) and now they are both back to being mainstay player at Atletico Madrid and will again become a duet partner on the front lines of Atletico Madrid .

Even though Atletico Madrid sold Antoine Griezmann to Barcelona for a huge amount of money like €120m, they still did a great job and managed to win the La Liga title in the last season. Because their game discipline is really awesome thanks to Diego Simeone. I think that he is already a legend in Atletico Madrid's history. Now they loaned Griezmann from Barcelona with an option to buy by paying €80m. If he performs like the old times here, maybe Atletico Madrid would think of making this move permanent but this is a really huge amount of money.

Lets see how progress Antoine Griezmann for Atletico Madrid keep consistent and give more trophies for Atletico Madrid or not because he was great performance when playing for his country France, always make goal on every match and I think not failed and finish his career right now, just wrong with Barcelona from financial crisis until Koeman failed give more space for Antoine Griezmann to be great forward and legend in Barcelona, I optimist Atletico Madrid most better than Barcelona in this season because they have danger forward player.

I agree with you that Atletico Madrid are a far better team than Barcelona now especially after signing Antoine Griezmann. It is an issue of concern what Barcelona will do without Messi and Griezmann both in the rest of the season. There are so many games ahead of them. It means that they have enough time to make things better every week. The players just need to believe in themselves and try harder to be better. When it comes to my favorite for the league title this season, it is Atletico Madrid. 

[kassex]

Barcelona players were much more dependent on Messi. So the sudden departure of Messi from the team will definitely cause some problems.

You are right. Messi has a big role in the Barcelona team, losing him makes Barcelona unstable. Now, Barcelona expects that they will have another player who can replace Messi's position. But it is not an easy thing, no player in the Barcelona squad has the same nature and ability as Messi. Although they have a shining player like Ansu Fati, it won't be the same as Messi's role, never be as good as Messi ever did.  

Ansu Fati will never take Messi's place. Messi has been in Barcelona for a long time. He was familiar with any match strategy of Barcelona and was able to adapt himself properly to all the players on the team. Ansu Fati will need a lot of time to join the ranks of a world-class players like Messi. Besides, I don't think he has the same dribbling skills as Messi.

It is unlikely that we will see players like Messi in Barcelona or any other club. Messi is a talent that can be obtained. But you can hardly become like him just by training. Fati is a good player, but he can hardly become like Messi.

That true Lionel Messi is the legend and best player for Barcelona, but never forget how club most bigger than player and need new regeneration with new player, now Messi have thirty-four years old and Barcelona need new young player exactly for Ansu Fati, although his quality still above Messi he need time and chance how to proof for Barcelona fans number 10 on shirt use by him in this season is not wrong and mistake made by Ronald Koeman.

One player can hardly change anything. Even Messi needed Ronaldinho, Iniesta and Xavi, as well as such a great captain as Puyol. Without them, Messi is unlikely to become what he is now. So Fati needs players of at least his level to help. or preferably higher so that he can learn and progress, otherwise he may not be able to withstand the pressure of a club as big as Barcelona.

[poldanmig]

One player can hardly change anything. Even Messi needed Ronaldinho, Iniesta and Xavi, as well as such a great captain as Puyol. Without them, Messi is unlikely to become what he is now. So Fati needs players of at least his level to help. or preferably higher so that he can learn and progress, otherwise he may not be able to withstand the pressure of a club as big as Barcelona.

That's what makes me very doubtful that later Ansu Fati will be able to become like Messi, because in my opinion, no matter how good the talent of a young player, of course, will not be able to develop rapidly if there is no senior player who can be his reference in developing his talent, as is the case with you say, if messi used to play with senior players like ronaldiho and xavi so gradually he developed his football playing technique based on the techniques of these two players and of course he got a lot of benefits from the experience of these two great players.

[herurist]

He's still capable of duels, I don't think he's going to be a substitute. Simone should have given him more playing time. It's a mistake for Barca to throw Griezman out, they don't have an experienced striker backing. Of course his move will make Atletico stronger because Simone has an alternative striker. Maybe he can be the key to athletico's victory.

Griezmann is a really talented football player. It is not right to evaluate the performances of such football players daily, not everyone can play well some times. I am sure he will be very successful once he gets used to the team. Barcelona is also not very happy with this loan, no one wants to lose such a player.
Atletico has been a very good team and they have very good players now

but on the other hand, this is actually not wrong because indeed both great players and teams will certainly be highly highlighted in any case, especially in football.
I have no doubts about him, he is a talented player both at club level and national team level. but indeed at this time his performance at club level was very much reduced when he was at barcelona.
and indeed Griezmann also admitted this when interviewed when he was about to move to an ATM again a few days ago.

[TheGreatPython]

I think ronald koeman has changed the style of playing barcelona a bit now, before indeed the barcelona game often used tiki taka which was more dominant to attack, but we know that ronald koeman would prefer to use 4-3-3 tactics and combine it with tiki taka, so the current barcelona game is a high defensive line, Koeman's scheme makes two barcelona central defenders obliged to participate in building attacks and occasionally launching long passes that surprise the opposing defense, and in several barcelona matches that have occurred this season, i see a lot of barcelona players who are even out of position so that if they are against a team that has speed on the counter-attack, of course it will be very troublesome for Barcelona when facing such a fast counterattack.

Gegenpress is the way to go in today's game, almost every team is using that on defense whenever they get a chance. Obviously if you are Barcelona and your opponent is weak then you do not even have the chance to do too much defense, usually they just attack until they score and maybe get a counter attack goal conceded but that's about it.

The reason why they didn't play that was the fact that team was a bit too old to do that, and players were not fast enough anymore or couldn't handle all that running, specially at that age. Now that they are building a great young core, they can afford to do that and could make a lot of profit from it as well. In the end how many games could be won by just pure talent, you need to also have a system in place as well.

[LUCKMCFLY]

The news that Messi has decided not to renew his contract with Barcelona astounds me. This is awful news for the team's fans as well as the team itself. Without Messi, Barcelona appears to be a team that is no longer a force to be reckoned with, and Laliga will soon be displaced by other European competitions.

No doubt, Messi was a great player which Barcelona's squad depends on when playing matches. But, I don't think Barcelona is no longer strong because of the absence of Messi. Barcelona still have a strong squad, and they have proven that in their last matches, although the season just started. However, it will be difficult for them to replace Messi, because they are experiencing financial difficulties. A team is not supposed to reckon on a player, they now have to work together.

Barcelona players were much more dependent on Messi. So the sudden departure of Messi from the team will definitely cause some problems. Aguero is a talented player. We have seen his extraordinary skills in Manchester City. But his performance depends on how well he adapts to Koeman's tactics.

I agree with your opinion here. Barcelona were building their game on Messi before. But now, they will need to develop a brand new strategy to become successful. Otherwise, they will most probably struggle for some time in the La Liga and the Champions League both. Barcelona have to get accustomed to playing without Messi. Messi was going to retire eventually if he was even still at Barcelona now.

This is a very good thing, because if Barcelona always lost everything they would focus on Messi, they didn't even take into account the team but Messi, it didn't matter that another star was there, the image was Messi, now how did they let him go, or discarded him La Liga is no longer the same, in fact many Barcelona fans are no longer with Barcelona but went to support PSG, I really think that the ones who lost the most were not Barcelona but the Spanish League. Messi not only moved a whole club but he also moved a great business model and the Club itself did not even know it, the market for player exchanges in the Spanish league is no longer the same, now everything will be concentrated for France and England, where they are the two best in the world.

[mv1986]

I think ronald koeman has changed the style of playing barcelona a bit now, before indeed the barcelona game often used tiki taka which was more dominant to attack, but we know that ronald koeman would prefer to use 4-3-3 tactics and combine it with tiki taka, so the current barcelona game is a high defensive line, Koeman's scheme makes two barcelona central defenders obliged to participate in building attacks and occasionally launching long passes that surprise the opposing defense, and in several barcelona matches that have occurred this season, i see a lot of barcelona players who are even out of position so that if they are against a team that has speed on the counter-attack, of course it will be very troublesome for Barcelona when facing such a fast counterattack.

Gegenpress is the way to go in today's game, almost every team is using that on defense whenever they get a chance. Obviously if you are Barcelona and your opponent is weak then you do not even have the chance to do too much defense, usually they just attack until they score and maybe get a counter attack goal conceded but that's about it.

The reason why they didn't play that was the fact that team was a bit too old to do that, and players were not fast enough anymore or couldn't handle all that running, specially at that age. Now that they are building a great young core, they can afford to do that and could make a lot of profit from it as well. In the end how many games could be won by just pure talent, you need to also have a system in place as well.

This sounds a bit like you are talking about the Barcelona from their good old days where the dominance was absolutely out of this world, but that has changed quite a bit. Yes they still dominate the games with ball possession, but it isn't what it used to be. I am sure that over the coming year they will keep adjusting their style more and more to what other top teams play. The tikki takka stuff won't work as well anymore as they just lack the right players for it.

[hahay]

I think ronald koeman has changed the style of playing barcelona a bit now, before indeed the barcelona game often used tiki taka which was more dominant to attack, but we know that ronald koeman would prefer to use 4-3-3 tactics and combine it with tiki taka, so the current barcelona game is a high defensive line, Koeman's scheme makes two barcelona central defenders obliged to participate in building attacks and occasionally launching long passes that surprise the opposing defense, and in several barcelona matches that have occurred this season, i see a lot of barcelona players who are even out of position so that if they are against a team that has speed on the counter-attack, of course it will be very troublesome for Barcelona when facing such a fast counterattack.

Gegenpress is the way to go in today's game, almost every team is using that on defense whenever they get a chance. Obviously if you are Barcelona and your opponent is weak then you do not even have the chance to do too much defense, usually they just attack until they score and maybe get a counter attack goal conceded but that's about it.

The reason why they didn't play that was the fact that team was a bit too old to do that, and players were not fast enough anymore or couldn't handle all that running, specially at that age. Now that they are building a great young core, they can afford to do that and could make a lot of profit from it as well. In the end how many games could be won by just pure talent, you need to also have a system in place as well.

This sounds a bit like you are talking about the Barcelona from their good old days where the dominance was absolutely out of this world, but that has changed quite a bit. Yes they still dominate the games with ball possession, but it isn't what it used to be. I am sure that over the coming year they will keep adjusting their style more and more to what other top teams play. The tikki takka stuff won't work as well anymore as they just lack the right players for it.

Implementing such a style of play requires good chemistry between players, if players continue to experience changes then it seems difficult to apply such a style of play. Actually, winning in terms of ball possession is no longer good because if Koeman implemented a defensive strategy it would be more appropriate to apply a counter-attack style and it's much more effective I think for now. Dominate the game by winning in ball possession but it's hard to create chances, so it's just a waste of time and usually when it's deadlocked they just play with a draw.

[mv1986]

I think ronald koeman has changed the style of playing barcelona a bit now, before indeed the barcelona game often used tiki taka which was more dominant to attack, but we know that ronald koeman would prefer to use 4-3-3 tactics and combine it with tiki taka, so the current barcelona game is a high defensive line, Koeman's scheme makes two barcelona central defenders obliged to participate in building attacks and occasionally launching long passes that surprise the opposing defense, and in several barcelona matches that have occurred this season, i see a lot of barcelona players who are even out of position so that if they are against a team that has speed on the counter-attack, of course it will be very troublesome for Barcelona when facing such a fast counterattack.

Gegenpress is the way to go in today's game, almost every team is using that on defense whenever they get a chance. Obviously if you are Barcelona and your opponent is weak then you do not even have the chance to do too much defense, usually they just attack until they score and maybe get a counter attack goal conceded but that's about it.

The reason why they didn't play that was the fact that team was a bit too old to do that, and players were not fast enough anymore or couldn't handle all that running, specially at that age. Now that they are building a great young core, they can afford to do that and could make a lot of profit from it as well. In the end how many games could be won by just pure talent, you need to also have a system in place as well.

This sounds a bit like you are talking about the Barcelona from their good old days where the dominance was absolutely out of this world, but that has changed quite a bit. Yes they still dominate the games with ball possession, but it isn't what it used to be. I am sure that over the coming year they will keep adjusting their style more and more to what other top teams play. The tikki takka stuff won't work as well anymore as they just lack the right players for it.

Implementing such a style of play requires good chemistry between players, if players continue to experience changes then it seems difficult to apply such a style of play. Actually, winning in terms of ball possession is no longer good because if Koeman implemented a defensive strategy it would be more appropriate to apply a counter-attack style and it's much more effective I think for now. Dominate the game by winning in ball possession but it's hard to create chances, so it's just a waste of time and usually when it's deadlocked they just play with a draw.

That is right. I think the tikki takka strategy Guardiola once let his teams play really require a very specific and high quality of players. Thinking back how Xavi, Iniesta and Messi worked together is still impressive.

Guardiola tried the same with Bayern and even though it wasn't that bad, it still wasn't as good as Barcelona's best play during their peak around 2009. However, Heynckes has proven quite well that the style can be countered with a strong play against the ball as Bayern did in 2013 (and still often do).

[xzone]

but on the other hand, this is actually not wrong because indeed both great players and teams will certainly be highly highlighted in any case, especially in football.
I have no doubts about him, he is a talented player both at club level and national team level. but indeed at this time his performance at club level was very much reduced when he was at barcelona.
and indeed Griezmann also admitted this when interviewed when he was about to move to an ATM again a few days ago.

Yes it was underperforming and it's pretty nice to be aware of that. I hope he will perform as before when playing in Atletico, he is a very good player but he couldn't show it.
In the interviews he gave, he said that he was very excited to return to Atletico, it seems that he will be very happy here. Couldn't sleep for days from happiness
We can see his success in the first few games

[bitjoin]

That is right. I think the tikki takka strategy Guardiola once let his teams play really require a very specific and high quality of players. Thinking back how Xavi, Iniesta and Messi worked together is still impressive.

Guardiola tried the same with Bayern and even though it wasn't that bad, it still wasn't as good as Barcelona's best play during their peak around 2009. However, Heynckes has proven quite well that the style can be countered with a strong play against the ball as Bayern did in 2013 (and still often do).

Pep Guardiola playing style (tiki-taka) when he was Barcelona coach proved to be very effective, barcelona managed to reach the highest level and broke records during that period. The highest achievement at that time was Barcelona managed to get 6 trophies in one season. After guardianola went to bayern munchen, Barcelona is entering a period of transition, the barcelona coach seat was filled by Tito Vilanova, Tata Martino, these two coaches were only able to give one trophy each to barcelona, champion of the Spanish League (Tito Vilanova) and the champion of the Supercopa de Espana (Tata Martino). Barcelona bounced back in the Luis Enrique era, El Lucho presented the treble (Spanish League, Copa del Rey and UCL champions), which previously could only be obtained in the Guardiola era (2009). But after that Luis Enrique position was replaced by Ernesto Valverde, while being the coach of barcelona, Ernesto Valverde was only able to present 2 La Liga, 1 Copa del Rey, 1 Supercopa de Espana. During that period, only Quique Setien was unable to deliver a trophy for Barcelona. Now the heavy task rests on Koeman shoulders, Moreover, Barcelona has just been abandoned by Messi and Griezman. The question, Can Koeman bring back the glory of Barcelona with the players they have now?

[rahmad2nd]

That is right. I think the tikki takka strategy Guardiola once let his teams play really require a very specific and high quality of players. Thinking back how Xavi, Iniesta and Messi worked together is still impressive.

Guardiola tried the same with Bayern and even though it wasn't that bad, it still wasn't as good as Barcelona's best play during their peak around 2009. However, Heynckes has proven quite well that the style can be countered with a strong play against the ball as Bayern did in 2013 (and still often do).

Pep Guardiola playing style (tiki-taka) when he was Barcelona coach proved to be very effective, barcelona managed to reach the highest level and broke records during that period. The highest achievement at that time was Barcelona managed to get 6 trophies in one season. After guardianola went to bayern munchen, Barcelona is entering a period of transition, the barcelona coach seat was filled by Tito Vilanova, Tata Martino, these two coaches were only able to give one trophy each to barcelona, champion of the Spanish League (Tito Vilanova) and the champion of the Supercopa de Espana (Tata Martino). Barcelona bounced back in the Luis Enrique era, El Lucho presented the treble (Spanish League, Copa del Rey and UCL champions), which previously could only be obtained in the Guardiola era (2009). But after that Luis Enrique position was replaced by Ernesto Valverde, while being the coach of barcelona, Ernesto Valverde was only able to present 2 La Liga, 1 Copa del Rey, 1 Supercopa de Espana. During that period, only Quique Setien was unable to deliver a trophy for Barcelona. Now the heavy task rests on Koeman shoulders, Moreover, Barcelona has just been abandoned by Messi and Griezman. The question, Can Koeman bring back the glory of Barcelona with the players they have now?

Playing with tiki taka style need most smart midfielder because the main of play in that style is great midfielder, why very easy for Pep Guardiola play well with tika taka style and success raise treble winner from Copa Del Rey, La Liga and Champion league trophy. Xavi Henandez and Iniesta become the most important player for tiki taka style because both player very smart to give most attempt for forward, without smart midfielder I think use tiki taka style is not worth and Barcelona have apply it without success continue by many club after Pep Guardiola.

[BALIK]

That is right. I think the tikki takka strategy Guardiola once let his teams play really require a very specific and high quality of players. Thinking back how Xavi, Iniesta and Messi worked together is still impressive.

Guardiola tried the same with Bayern and even though it wasn't that bad, it still wasn't as good as Barcelona's best play during their peak around 2009. However, Heynckes has proven quite well that the style can be countered with a strong play against the ball as Bayern did in 2013 (and still often do).

Pep Guardiola playing style (tiki-taka) when he was Barcelona coach proved to be very effective, barcelona managed to reach the highest level and broke records during that period. The highest achievement at that time was Barcelona managed to get 6 trophies in one season. After guardianola went to bayern munchen, Barcelona is entering a period of transition, the barcelona coach seat was filled by Tito Vilanova, Tata Martino, these two coaches were only able to give one trophy each to barcelona, champion of the Spanish League (Tito Vilanova) and the champion of the Supercopa de Espana (Tata Martino). Barcelona bounced back in the Luis Enrique era, El Lucho presented the treble (Spanish League, Copa del Rey and UCL champions), which previously could only be obtained in the Guardiola era (2009). But after that Luis Enrique position was replaced by Ernesto Valverde, while being the coach of barcelona, Ernesto Valverde was only able to present 2 La Liga, 1 Copa del Rey, 1 Supercopa de Espana. During that period, only Quique Setien was unable to deliver a trophy for Barcelona. Now the heavy task rests on Koeman shoulders, Moreover, Barcelona has just been abandoned by Messi and Griezman. The question, Can Koeman bring back the glory of Barcelona with the players they have now?

Playing with tiki taka style need most smart midfielder because the main of play in that style is great midfielder, why very easy for Pep Guardiola play well with tika taka style and success raise treble winner from Copa Del Rey, La Liga and Champion league trophy. Xavi Henandez and Iniesta become the most important player for tiki taka style because both player very smart to give most attempt for forward, without smart midfielder I think use tiki taka style is not worth and Barcelona have apply it without success continue by many club after Pep Guardiola.

You are right. An experienced midfielder is definitely needed to succeed in the Titi Taka strategy. At the same time, the mutual bond and understanding with the players of the team have to be very good. During Pep Guardiola we saw another level of titi taka strategy. We haven't seen such a good strategy in Barcelona since then. However, neither the defense nor the midfield is as strong as it used to be in Barcelona. It is also a risk for Koeman to apply a new strategy now. Because it takes time to adapt to the new strategy.

[ILuckyGuyI]

In their next game, Atletico Madrid are going to play against Espanyol in an away game. And it will be Griezmann's first game also. But maybe Simeone can prefer to put him in the subs and he can enter the game in the second half. Because Luis Suarez and Angel Correa both are in a very good shape now in terms of scoring and contributing well to the team. But I'm pretty sure that Simeone will prefer Griezmann in the starting eleven later. And Atletico Madrid should be able to win this game easily I guess.

[hahay]

In their next game, Atletico Madrid are going to play against Espanyol in an away game. And it will be Griezmann's first game also. But maybe Simeone can prefer to put him in the subs and he can enter the game in the second half. Because Luis Suarez and Angel Correa both are in a very good shape now in terms of scoring and contributing well to the team. But I'm pretty sure that Simeone will prefer Griezmann in the starting eleven later. And Atletico Madrid should be able to win this game easily I guess.

Don't know which is better, whether to include him in the starting eleven or not because they are all in good form too. So even though they are included in the starting eleven I think it's a good idea too, considering the top five teams now have the same points then if Simeone can play them together why not. Because that way at least Atletico have a chance to win big, and of course it will be very good for the difference in goal difference if their points stay the same.

[KTChampions]

In their next game, Atletico Madrid are going to play against Espanyol in an away game. And it will be Griezmann's first game also. But maybe Simeone can prefer to put him in the subs and he can enter the game in the second half. Because Luis Suarez and Angel Correa both are in a very good shape now in terms of scoring and contributing well to the team. But I'm pretty sure that Simeone will prefer Griezmann in the starting eleven later. And Atletico Madrid should be able to win this game easily I guess.

I think he will be released from the first minutes - now is the beginning of the season and there is no point in saving strength, on the contrary, everyone needs as much practice as possible. Plus, despite the fact that for Greenzman this is not a new team, he needs to re-establish interaction with partners and get used to a new (relative to Barcelona) game model.