Antoine Griezmann Doubtful for Osasuna Clash After Suffering Leg Injury
By Tom Gott
Barcelona may be forced to face Osasuna on Thursday without French forward Antoine Griezmann after the club confirmed he has been diagnosed with a quadriceps injury in his right leg.
Griezmann started Saturday's 1-0 win over Real Valladolid but endured a tricky evening. He missed an amazing chance to find the back off the net and was then forced off at half-time after picking up the injury.
❗[LATEST NEWS] Tests this morning have shown that Antoine Griezmann has a quadriceps muscle injury in his right leg. He is not available for selection and the evolution of the injury will condition his availability.https://t.co/G7caKZS9Io pic.twitter.com/7jxrypVRsj
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 12, 2020
Barça took to their official website to confirm that Griezmann has been removed from training as a result of the injury, but they stopped short of officially ruling him out of contention for the Osasuna game.
"Tests this morning have shown that first-team player Antoine Griezmann has a muscle injury in the quadriceps of his right leg," a statement read. "He is therefore not available for selection at the present time and the evolution of the injury will condition his availability.
"The French player participated in Barça's victory this Saturday against Valladolid (0-1), playing the first half before being replaced at half time by Luis Suárez."
For Griezmann, this news will come as a real blow. His debut season at Camp Nou has been thoroughly frustrating for all involved, and he has just played his way back into Quique Sétien's starting lineup after two games on the bench.
The Frenchman managed just nine minutes against Celta Vigo before seeing just one minute in the 2-2 draw with Atlético Madrid, which left Atléti boss Diego Simeone stunned and prompted rumours about Griezmann's future at the club.
He held crunch talks with Camp Nou officials to figure out what was going on, in which it was quickly established that Griezmann didn't want to leave and Barcelona didn't want to let him go.
The 29-year-old returned to the lineup and scored in the 4-1 win over Villarreal but now faces the possibility of missing Barcelona's last two games of the season.
Should Griezmann fail to recover in time, Suárez is about as good of a replacement as you're ever likely to find, while the enigmatic Martin Braithwaite could also be given the nod if needed.