Breaking Down Antoine Griezmann's Performance for Atletico Madrid vs. Almeria
Antoine Griezmann enjoyed another outstanding performance on Saturday, scoring twice as Atletico Madrid cruised past Almeria, 3-0, at the Vicente Calderon in La Liga.
On the back of strong recent performances against Rayo Vallecano, Eibar and Real Madrid, the Frenchman scored his team's second and third goals in the space of nine minutes to effectively seal three points for Atletico in the opening half.
In doing so, Griezmann took his goal tally to 17 in all competitions this season and 11 in his last 13 appearances.
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Here we break down his performance against Almeria.
First 10 Minutes
After their damaging defeat to Celta Vigo last time out, there was a noticeable intensity to Atletico Madrid in the opening minutes of Saturday's match—a clear desire to atone for their incredibly slow start in Galicia.
During the high-octane opening, Griezmann played a leading role.
In the opening minute, the forward drifted across to the right to link up with Atleti's dynamic right-sided pairing, Arda Turan and Juanfran, to immediately get the ball into the box and earn the hosts a corner.
Throughout the match, that trio couldn't be contained by Almeria (more on that later).
In the second minute, the former Real Sociedad star neatly collected Miguel Angel Moya's long clearance just outside penalty area before spinning and firing a curling shot off that went just wide of the left post.
Impressively, Griezmann had won the ball in the middle of five Almeria players—Fran Velez, Verza, Mauro Dos Santos, Angel Trujillo and Sebastian Dubarbier.
Then, after 10 minutes, the 23-year-old raced after his own header following a Julian goal-kick. With a burst of pace, the forward nicked the ball away from Dubarbier, who was forced to bring the Frenchman to ground with a tackle that drew a foul on the right flank.
The resulting free-kick saw Diego Godin win a penalty, which, although fortuitous, had stemmed from Griezmann's incessant desire to hunt down every ball and win a one-on-one duel.
1st Goal (Atletico's 2nd)
Though he would go on to seal the result with his second goal, it was Griezmann's first that was the real killer blow for Almeria—the strike that really deflated the visitors because they brought about their own undoing.
In the 20th minute, Tiago won a header from Julian's goal-kick that fell to the feet Velez, who was playing extremely deep in his role as a holding midfielder. But Velez's short pass was woefully misplaced, finding Mario Mandzukic instead of Trujillo.
With one touch, the Croatian fed an inch-perfect ball through to Griezmann, who stormed into the Almeria penalty area before opening his body and gliding the ball past Julian and into the bottom-left corner.
From that point, only one result ever looked likely.
2nd Goal (Atletico's 3rd)
On the half-hour mark, Atletico were laying siege on Almeria's penalty area—a perfect situation for a forward possessing the intelligent movement and positioning that Griezmann does.
When Edgar's attempted clearance was blocked by Saul Niguez, the rebound fell to Turan, who chipped a cross to the head Mandzukic. With the visitors' defence scrambling, the centre-forward nodded to ball toward goal, where Griezmann was positioned next to Trujillo.
Reacting far quicker, the France international gathered the ball, spun and fired a low shot past Julian all too easily.
For the visitors, it was the final, knockout blow.
Combination with Turan and Juanfran
Aside from his goals, the most notable aspect of Griezmann's performance on Saturday was the way he linked up with Turan and Juanfran down the right for Atletico.
So often this season, the Turkish midfielder and Spanish full-back have been the driving force of Atleti's moves forward, and recently, Griezmann has developed into a perfect third party in that combination.
Against Almeria, the forward consistently drifted from left to right to present himself as a short option for Turan and Juanfran just inside the penalty area, as the wing pair terrorised Dubarbier and consistently delivered balls into the box.
The effect of that movement was twofold: By flashing across the near post, Griezmann consistently drew Trujillo away from his partner, Dos Santos, and created room behind him, while also giving Turan and Juanfran two contrasting options (short and long), given Mandzukic's preference to move toward the back post and put pressure on physically inferior right-backs.
As a pair, Griezmann and Mandzukic are flourishing, and a lot of that is due to the way the former Real Sociedad winger works with Turan and Juanfran to create chances.
Defensive Work
After arriving at the Vicente Calderon as a talented forward, Griezmann has become an excellent two-way contributor at Atletico.
Clearly, Diego Simeone has pushed him to another level.
On Saturday, the Frenchman's stat line didn't include a tackle or interception, but the way he harassed the visitors' back four without the ball was impressive, and he never allowed Almeria to play their way out of defence with freedom.
Consistently charging at Trujillo and Dos Santos, and often pressuring Velez and Verza in midfield, the forward often forced Juan Ignacio Martinez's men to hit long balls forward in an effort to release pressure.
It's the sort of work Simeone demands, and Griezmann is becoming a multidimensional weapon for Atletico as a result.
Stats and Reaction
| Minutes | 64 |
| Goals | 2 |
| Assists | 0 |
| Shots (OT) | 3(2) |
| Touches | 36 |
| Aerials Won | 3 |
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