Barcelona's Dutch coach Ronald Koeman (L) speaks to Barcelona's French midfielder Antoine Griezmann before he enters the pitch during the Spanish League football match between Barcelona and Real Madrid at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on October 24, 2020.
Barcelona star Antoine Griezmann is reportedly unhappy with Ronald Koeman after being benched for the club’s 3-1 El Clasico defeat to Real Madrid on Saturday. The France international was introduced with just eight minutes left on the clock. And he couldn’t prevent his side from dropping points at the Nou Camp.
Barcelona were outplayed and outmaneuvered by Real Madrid on Saturday, with Koeman’s side producing a dire display.
Los Blancos went ahead early on through Federico Valverde before Ansu Fati then levelled.
Real went 2-1 up through captain Sergio Ramos, who converted from the penalty spot after being fouled inside the area.
And Luka Modric then scored late on to give Zinedine Zidane’s side all three points.
Now, Mundo Deportivo claim Griezmann is furious with Koeman for benching him for the match.
The Barcelona forward had reportedly expected to start El Clasico but was gutted when he found out Fati, Lionel Messi and Philippe Coutinho would be playing instead.
Griezmann is said to have found his snub to be a ‘huge mental blow’ with the former Atletico Madrid star enduring a wretched time at the club ever since his arrival last year.
The 29-year-old is aware that he’s not met expectations at the club following his massive £105million move to Barcelona.
But he wanted to play against Real to put that dire form behind him.
Now, Griezmann is hoping to be selected for the club’s Champions League clash with Juventus on Wednesday night.
He’s expecting to get the nod for that showdown, particularly with Coutinho ruled out through injury.
And whether the 2018 World Cup winner can make a difference on the big stage against the current Serie A champions is something only time will tell.
Meanwhile, speaking after Real’s victory over his side, Koeman slammed the decision to give the visitors a penalty for a foul on Ramos.
"I don't understand VAR, I think it is only used to make decisions against Barca," said Koeman.
"You always get shirt tugs like that in the area and I think Ramos makes a foul on Clement Lenglet first.
“There's a tug of the shirt, but not enough to make him fall behind as he did. For me it's not a penalty.
"We have had five matches and [VAR] has only been used to go against Barca. It's never gone our way.
"The decision had a big influence on the final result, because we were playing well up to the penalty."
Zidane, contrastingly, was delighted.
"After the criticism we received, we had to stay calm and united,” said the Frenchman, whose side had lost their previous two matches before the game.
"Play when we had to play, and play the way we did today."
