La Real
Antoine Griezmann ‘a caricature of himself’ in toxic Barcelona environment – former coach
Antoine Griezmann has become “a caricature of himself” at Barcelona, where his former Real Sociedad boss, Martin Lasarte, feels a toxic environment is taking its toll. Quique Setien has named Griezmann on the bench for three of Barca’s past four games, including important meetings with top-four hopefuls Sevilla and Atletico Madrid. The World Cup winner was not sent on until the 90th minute against Atletico on Tuesday, with Ansu Fati introduced ahead of him in the 2-2 draw at Camp Nou. Barca will fall four points behind Real Madrid with five games remaining if La Liga’s leaders beat Getafe on Thursday, with reports suggesting Setien has lost the backing of his players. Martin Lasarte, who handed Griezmann his professional debut as an 18-year-old in the Segunda Division with La Real, believe...
La Liga: Barcelona boss questions use of VAR
Barcelona boss Quique Setien believes that officials in La Liga are not using the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system correctly. It follows on directly from Real Madrid’s victory at Real Sociedad being marred by controversial officiating decisions surrounding key incidents in the clash. Los Blancos opened the scoring in Anoeta from a penalty decision before an equaliser for La Real was controversially ruled out by handball and Karim Benzema’s strike – Madrid’s second of the game – appearing to have been controlled initially by a handball. It was a result which took Madrid to the top of La Liga for the first time since the resumption of Spanish football as they leapfrogged Setien’s Blaugrana – who were to a scoreless draw at Sevilla on Friday – on goal difference. “There are things that we...
