ANTOINE GRIEZMANN’S brother Theo was left fuming by Barcelona manager Quique Setien during the 2-2 draw with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night.
Despite his side desperately needing a winner after Saul Niguez’s equaliser with half an hour remaining, Setien elected not to turn to his £108million substitute until just two minutes from time.
Theo Griezmann posted this image as a timely reminder of his brother’s talentsCredit: Instagram / @theogriezmann
Theo was fuming during the closing stages of the match
And this decision appeared to enrage and upset Theo in equal measure – prompting him to take to social media to vent his feelings.
As events were unfolding, he posted three now-deleted tweets.
The first read: “J’ai envie de chialer serieux”, meaning, “I want to cry, seriously”.
He then posted, in reference to his brother’s playing time: “2 minutes…”
Before exasperatingly following it up with: “…”
In one final post on the matter, Theo uploaded a picture to Instagram of himself alongside Antoine while holding the World Cup – a reminder of his brother’s amazing achievements.
Clearly the disgruntlement with Setien is a family affair, with Griezmann’s father Alain also criticising the Barcelona boss.
Setien revealed after the match that he would talk to his No17 on the matter, a notion that Alain scoffed at.
He wrote in French on Instagram: “To have this sort of conversation he needs to be the one with the keys to the truck, and in this case, he’s just a passenger.”
Even Griezmann’s former manager Diego Simeone, with whom he shared so much success, briefly weighed in on the subject after the match.
He said in disbelief: “I have no words.”
It appeared last summer that Griezmann, 29, had finally secured his dream move when he made his big-money switch to Camp Nou.
But his future is now well-and-truly in doubt – with Barca hoping to re-sign Neymar, as well as luring Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez.
But I see him (Griezmann) working hard in training, it can only get better. It’s always the same when a Barca striker doesn’t score for two games, that he’s in trouble.
Clement Lenglet
His team-mate for club and country Clement Lenglet, however, feels that he can bounce back at Barcelona.
He told Le Parisien: “Antoine is well integrated in the dressing room, there really is no problem. On the pitch, he himself knows he can do better.
“But we must not forget his statistics. He has still scored 14 goals and created several assists.
“For a first season, it’s not bad. But, for Antoine, he is playing in a different style to what he was better used to at Atletico, and he is a player with whom we are very demanding.
“But I see him working hard in training, it can only get better. It’s always the same when a Barca striker doesn’t score for two games, that he’s in trouble.
“When he scores two goals, it looks like Super-Antoine is back.”
Griezmann has been intensely scrutinised during his first season at BarcelonaCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Griezmann, who will turn 30 next season, has scored eight goals and assisted a further four in 32 LaLiga appearances this season.
Barcelona have now fallen behind Real Madrid in the title race, with Zinedine Zidane’s side a point clear of their rivals with a game in hand.
According to Marca, Setien, 61, has already lost the confidence of the dressing room despite having only taken over in January – and legendary former player Xavi could be waiting in the wings to take over.
Watch Lionel Messi IGNORE Barcelona No2 as row with coaches rages on and boss Setien now set to leave after bust-up
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
