Diego Simeone was left in disbelief as Antoine Griezmann was introduced as a late substitute in Barcelona’s 2-2 draw against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.Barcelona’s La Liga title hopes were dealt a major blow when they surrendered 1-0 and 2-1 leads to draw against Simeone’s Atletico side.But Griezmann was given just a couple of minutes at the end to try to change the game, with Quique Setien waiting until the 90th minute to bring him on.Griezmann’s brother, Theo, was furious with the Barcelona coach, tweeting: “I want to cry seriously”.And it wasn’t just Theo who couldn’t make sense of the late move.When asked about Griezmann’s situation at full-time, Simeone said he is “without words”.And footage has captured the Atleti coach’s reaction when Griezmann eventually came on at the end of Tuesday’s clash.The Argentinian is seen biting his lip and shaking his head, almost in disappointment at what’s happened to his former star.
Barcelona paid Atletico Madrid €120 million to sign Griezmann in July 2019 and yet he’s not a regular starter for Setien.
After the result, which leaves Barcelona with an uphill battle in the title race, Setien raised eyebrows with his comments about the Frenchman.
"It's difficult to put him on without destabilising the team,” the under-fire head coach was quoted as saying by AS.
On whether he will apologise to Griezmann, Setien added: "I understand it's tough for Griezmann to come on when so little time left. I will speak with him tomorrow [Wednesday], I won't say sorry because [it's about] decisions.
"But I understand he may feel bad and I feel bad for him because he's a great person and professional."