Madrid (AFP)

Sublimated with France but criticized in Catalonia, Antoine Griezmann struggles to find his place in Ronald Koeman's system at FC Barcelona.

Like his team, the forward has a lot to be forgiven in the Champions League on Tuesday against Ferencvaros (9 p.m. local, 7 p.m. GMT).

How can a free electron like the world champion fit into Barça's organized eleven?

This is the whole dilemma of Griezmann, who scored and shone with the Blues against Ukraine (7-1) and Croatia (2-1) but was then castigated by the Catalan press.

What was he criticized for?

For having praised the strategy of French coach Didier Deschamps to place him in the axis, and therefore criticized, in hollow, the way Koeman uses him at Barça, more on one side.

"I feel good, the coach (Deschamps) knows where to put me, I take advantage of this situation, of this place," said the French striker after the victory in Croatia last Wednesday.

Immediately, "Grizi" ran up against Koeman's rigidity.

"It's not" the strategy, hammered the Dutch technician on Friday, after speaking to Griezmann on Thursday, upon landing in Barcelona.

"At the end of the day, I'm the one who decides (the placement of the players) for the good of the team, and each player should get the maximum return from it."

- "Indefensible" -

On Saturday, the match in Getafe did not plead for Griezmann's cause: finally positioned in a more axial role, the Frenchman, like the whole team, missed out on his match, and Barça lost 1 -0 in the suburbs of Madrid.

Enough to ruminate on the big opportunity missed by the Mâconnais, alone in front of the goalkeeper at the half-hour mark ...

“Indefensible. Koeman gave him the fake N.9 job he asked for, but he barely intervened in the match. And when he did, it was to miss a clear opportunity. is not in question, but far from solving the problem, it worsened it, "said Sunday the Catalan daily Sport.

"He did not give the image of the great footballer he claims to be", supported journalist Xavier Ortuno in his column in Sport on Sunday.

"You can't judge a player's career on a ball that doesn't end in the back of the net, but Griezmann's opportunities are running out and his dream of succeeding at Barca seems to be drifting further away."

- "Change this situation" -

In short, a year after his resounding transfer from Atlético Madrid to Barcelona for 120 million EUR, Griezmann is starting to tire observers.

"Grizi" and his Barça compatriot Ousmane Dembélé went through so much on Saturday that the Catalan press even questioned whether their place is not on the bench, to allow young people Pedri, Trincao, Ansu Fati, or the Philippe Coutinho to express himself fully as holders.

"He works well. Of course we could have a better performance up front, and that will go through Antoine. He knows that, and the only thing he can do is work hard to change this situation" , tempered Koeman on Monday at a press conference.

On the bench ?

On the right wing?

In false N.9?

For the moment, the role Antoine Griezmann will have on Tuesday at Camp Nou against the modest Hungarians of Ferencvaros for the first day of the group stage of the Champions League remains a mystery.

But for Barça's comeback in C1 after the humiliation suffered against Bayern Munich (8-2) in the quarter-finals of the last edition, the Catalan club and its French striker will do everything to redeem themselves.

© 2020 AFP