Yannick Carrasco Injury Will Increase Atletico Madrid's Reliance on Griezmann

Atletico Madrid beat Getafe 1-0 on Sunday night, moving level on points with Barcelona at the top of the table—at least briefly—and back ahead of rivals Real Madrid.

Even so, the match was soured for Diego Simeone's men by the sight of Belgian winger Yannick Carrasco going down injured in the second half and having to leave the field; while a complete diagnosis might have to wait, it looked worryingly like an ankle problem for Carrasco, which could keep him out for some time—confirmed as much by his club.

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MEDICAL REPORT. @CarrascoY21 suffers a sprain of the external lateral ligament of the right ankle-joint. #GetafeAtleti

— Atleti English (@atletienglish) February 14, 2016"

Aside from losing a player to injury in a busy period, Carrasco's loss will impact Atletico considerably in both halves of the pitch and will further increase the immense reliance on Antoine Griezmann from the team as they look to remain in the title race.

Dynamic threat

Before any consideration of the wider team-related loss, Carrasco himself is a great attacking talent who has flourished with Atletico over the last four months or so.

Bursting infield from the flanks, dribbling into the final third and opening up the opposition defence with his movement and ability to quickly swap passes, Carrasco is one of the most unpredictable forwards that Atletico possess.

While he can be individualistic at times, sometimes too much so, he is utterly removed from any of the team's other attacking options; the likes of Oliver Torres, Koke or Saul are all excellent in their own right, but they create space and chances in a very different manner to the Belgian.

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Atletico also like to challenge high upfield in certain matches, and in this facet of the game, Carrasco also gives a lot to the team: he is aggressive in the tackle, quick enough to close down defenders before they have the chance to set themselves and has the acceleration to race into space and exploit teams once possession has been won back.

Tactical outlet

No Atletico player is allowed to be a purely attacking option, of course, and Simeone uses his players in both halves of the pitch.

Carrasco is of particular importance to the Atletico cause when they defend deep and attempt to counter-attack—he has the pace to break forward quickly, the vision to make use of space when moving at speed through midfield lines and can dribble from defensive to attacking thirds in double-quick time.

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109 - Yannick Carrasco is the only @atletienglish player to have attempted more than 100 dribbles in La Liga this season. Electricity.

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) February 14, 2016"

The only other player in Atletico's squad who can offer that is, of course, Griezmann.

The Frenchman pulls wide to allow a switch from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 and has the work rate to go with his own dribbling skills to help out the back four and then move forward rapidly.

This ability to sit deep and break with regularity is a big part of Atletico's game plan most weeks and, without Carrasco to help in that regard, they will be much harder pressed to manage fixtures in the same way without the same outlet.

Width and goals

Of course, if Griezmann is employed to help out wide in midfield, then Atletico have another problem altogether: who remains up front and is reliable enough to find the back of the net? 

A real issue for Atletico this season has been getting goalscorers from different areas of the pitch; Saul has contributed from midfield and Angel Correa shines at times, but nobody else other than this duo and Griezmann has more than Carrasco's three.

Denis Doyle/Getty Images

Carrasco should arguably have scored more than he has done until now given the number of openings he makes for himself, but the other side of the argument is that he fashions openings for others when defenders are drawn toward him.

Atletico's 4-4-2 doesn't rely on wingers, but Carrasco does nonetheless add width and open up the game for them—again something that his potential replacements will not offer in the same way.

It'll be another challenge for Atletico to overcome to ensure the balance of the team remains in place while they account for the attacking threat missing during Carrasco's absence, but the most difficult part of all will be to ensure someone other than Griezmann is utilised as Atletico's outlet and final-third threat.

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