Griezmann shoulders blame for Atletico defeat to Chelsea

Dom Farrell

Griezmann shoulders blame for Atletico defeat to Chelsea image

Antoine Griezmann pulled no punches over his performance in Atletico Madrid's dramatic 2-1 Champions League Group C loss to Chelsea.

France star Griezmann put the hosts in front with a 40th-minute penalty in their first continental outing at the Wanda Metropolitano, but blamed himself for the defeat.

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Alvaro Morata headed Chelsea level with his seventh goal of the season before substitute Michy Batshuayi stole the points with the last kick of the game.

Asked what went wrong for Atletico, who were watched from the stands by Diego Costa, Griezmann told reporters: "Maybe we lacked a better game from me. Apart from the goal, I did not have a good day.

"They were the better team in every aspect. There is nothing else to say. We must try and win all our games now."

Atletico boss Diego Simeone concurred with the latter assessment after a result that leaves his team with one point from two matches and aiming to play catch-up across a double-header against Qarabag.

"The opponent was the better team, they were the more comfortable team in all moments and deserved to win," he told reporters.

"They were better tactically, physically and played with intensity. You must congratulate a team who played as Chelsea did."

Dom Farrell

Dom Farrell Photo

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.