FRANCE and Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann has confirmed that he was not happy when he was benched at various points this season.
And the Frenchman has also squashed murmurs of a rift with Barca and football legend in the making, Lionel Messi.
In an interview with L’Equipe, as seen on Marca, he said: “Yes [I was unhappy at Barcelona]. When you lose the title, for example, it makes me sad.
“Also at the beginning of the season, because I wasn’t playing, I didn’t feel important.
“I’m used to playing everything – the big games – I find myself on the bench against Real Madrid.
“It’s annoying to see teammates warming up on the pitch while you are next to them.
“But these are the coach’s decisions and I have to accept it and do everything I can to change his mind.”
Griezmann enjoyed his most fruitful season in front of goal for the Catalan giants scoring 20 goals and providing 12 assists, despite finding himself on the bench on occasions.
The 30-year-old also cleared up discussions of a rift with Messi, and indicated that they get along well.
He said: “We understand each other well. Sometimes we write messages to each other, we talk a lot in training.
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“On the pitch, he’s obviously a very easy player to play with. In terms of the play, things are getting better and better.
“This year was a little bit difficult because we had a lot of injuries and we played in a system where not everybody was necessarily at their best.”
Griezmann is part of Didier Deschamps’ 26-man squad for this summer’s Euros.
And France will be looking to not only build upon their 2018 World Cup win, but also get revenge for their disappointing Euro 2016 final loss to Portugal who only won one game inside 90 minutes.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
