About nine months ago, Antoine Griezmann was keeping the football world in suspense concerning his next career move. FC Barcelona were known to be interested in acquiring his services and were willing to pay his €100 million release clause. In fact, so confident were the Catalans of unveiling the Frenchman at the Camp Nou, that president Josep Maria Bartomeu let it be known that the player would be wearing the Blaugrana in 2018/19. Those statements came a week or so before ‘The Decision,’ a contrived documentary surrounding the process of coming to a final decision about his future, somewhat ironically made by Gerard Pique’s company, Kosmos. As it transpired, the future World Cup winner decided to stay put at Atletico Madrid, citing it as his home, but also because he wanted to spearhead the charge for trophies. With a new €20m per season salary – more than double Diego Costa’s and causing huge problems as a result – Griezmann had to deliver on the biggest stages to justify the Rojiblancos’ outlay. His first opportunity came in the UEFA Super Cup final against old foes Real Madrid. A 4-2 win, and a comprehensive performance from Diego Simeone’s side, hinted at Griezmann perhaps having made the right decision after all. However, he was subbed before the hour mark after doing nothing of note. Frankly, he was his team’s worst player, though it was blamed on fatigue from his World Cup exertions. With 12 league goals to his name this season, far and away the best return for Atleti, one could also try to argue that he has become the talismanic figure he’d promised. That’s until you drill down into some of the detail. Two of his strikes were against relegation-threatened Rayo Vallecano, one came against rock-bottom Huesca, and when a big goalscoring performance has been required, he’s nowhere to be seen. No goals against Barcelona, one against Real Madrid which meant nothing in a 3-1 loss… completely anonymous in the second leg at Juventus. Sergio Ramos famously told him to pipe down when it came to putting forward his candidacy for the Ballon d’Or, and you’d have to agree with the Real captain’s assessment given that Griezmann hasn’t stood up to be counted when it matters most.