Solna (Sweden) (AFP)

The Blues are usually his "happiness", but not this time.

Tuesday against Croatia, Antoine Griezmann hopes to erase the bitterness of a failed recovery, such as his penalty on Saturday in Sweden, before returning to the restless locker room of Barça where he struggles to win.

This is the flip side of the medal for the world champion: essential in the eyes of Didier Deschamps, who has aligned him for the 36th time in a row, the 29-year-old striker continues the matches more than any other and, inevitably , it gets stuck sometimes.

In Sweden on Saturday, the conductor of the offensive lines went crescendo, but without panache or inspiration, and his final score ended with a penalty missed in added time, his third failure in a row in this exercise in selection .

It's hard not to see the signs of a crisis of confidence for "Grizou" who comes out of a complicated first season with Barcelona: not always starting, rarely found by Lionel Messi and stunned by the 8-2 sinking in the Champions League in August against Bayern.

"Him like others, when the situation is less good in a club, it feels good to be in the France team", his permanent "happiness", had underlined Deschamps on the eve of facing Sweden.

- Captain Lloris to the rescue -

The blue parenthesis has so far not brought all the desired comfort to the playing master of the Blues, imperial during the previous match against Albania (2-0) in November 2019, in a system tailor-made for him.

"It's not the same period. We can look at all the offensive players: to make a difference they need some pep," noted the coach after the narrow victory in Sweden.

"He too is one of those players who have cut for a little over 15 days. We have to get the machine going."

Like good comrades, Captain Hugo Lloris and defender Léo Dubois also defended Private Griezmann.

"I don't want to say" in difficulty ", he did the job, he was at the service of the team," remarked the goalkeeper on the L'Equipe channel.

No question of "stopping on the missed penalties, because Antoine put much more important for the team of France, that is what must be remembered," Dubois continued.

For the remake of the 2018 World Cup final, played on Tuesday at the Stade de France against Croatia, Griezmann will have the opportunity to adjust the sights, if he plays of course.

- "Strength of character" -

"Everyone knows, we attackers first, that there are times when you have to put your back, take refuge in work, but I'm not worried about him because he has the strength of character to score again the + penos + and these strikes of which he has the secret rather quickly ", advanced Olivier Giroud.

About the third penalty in a row missed, after those against Albania and Andorra in September 2019, the Chelsea striker recognizes that Griezmann must "regain confidence" in the exercise, where he does not necessarily excel (9 failures out of 26 attempted in his career).

"Sometimes you shoot without looking at it goes to the bottom, and other times it's a little more difficult, you have the impression that the cage is a little smaller", noted Giroud, who had perfectly assured the 'interim last fall by scoring two penalties for Blue.

Deschamps will make the curse break as quickly as possible.

"From the moment he feels and wants to shoot them, he will shoot them. The problem is that he doesn't find himself in this situation anymore in the club, because he doesn't shoot them. "said the coach on the Téléfoot program on Sunday.

He is not likely to get much more at club this season, Messi having decided to stay at Barça ...

What better way than Croatia to break the spell, two years after their successful penalty kick in the World Cup final?

If he had to score, Griezmann would enter the top-5 of the best scorers in the history of the Blues, up to the legend Zinédine Zidane and his 31 units.

An additional motivation for those who never lack.

© 2020 AFP