Atletico boss Simeone hoping Griezmann can respond to critics after Porto draw

Diego Simeone hopes Antoine Griezmann will soon respond to his critics after Atletico Madrid were held to a goalless draw with Porto in the Champions League.

Atletico failed to win their opening game for the third consecutive season and are now winless in four home matches in Europe’s premier club competition, their joint-longest streak without a victory.

Griezmann was introduced as a second-half substitute amid boos in search of a winner but failed to provide attacking impetus as he did not manage to record a single touch in Porto’s box.

Following an underwhelming second debut against Espanyol following his return from Barcelona on loan, the pressure is now on the France forward, who already had to win supporters over on his comeback after his move to Camp Nou.

But Simeone is backing Griezmann, whose 21 goals for Atletico in the Champions League are nine more than any of their previous players in history, to prove his doubters wrong.

“Let’s hope that he [Griezmann] gets better, that he can respond to all the people who criticise him at this time,” Atletico head coach Simeone said to Movistar.

“He has a challenge ahead of him as a result of what happened in the past.

“They [the media] are making a movie and a morbid situation that clearly generates for us only the importance of having recovered a magnificent footballer whom we hope to recover.”

FT in Madrid. A point each. pic.twitter.com/XRtgHSpSg8

— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) September 15, 2021

Wednesday’s result means LaLiga champions Atletico have now just won two of their last 10 European fixtures, but Simeone insisted he will drive his side towards improvements.

“The team has improvement ahead, we have work,” he continued.

“We will aim for that, to find what makes the team better so that it maintains continuity in the game for as many minutes as possible.

“The system is a way of looking for variants so that the team can find solutions to the match. We have players who can play in different positions.

“We always did, last year we played various formations. We play with all systems.”