Barcelona stepped up in absence of Messi and Suarez, says two-goal Griezmann

Antoine Griezmann says Barcelona is moving in the right direction after its 5-2 thumping of Real Betis at Camp Nou.

Published : Aug 26, 2019 07:56 IST

Barcelona's Antoine Griezmann
Barcelona's Antoine Griezmann
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Barcelona's Antoine Griezmann

Antoine Griezmann felt Barcelona stepped up in the absence of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez to get its first La Liga win of the season against Real Betis on Sunday.

The €120million signing from Atletico Madrid got off the mark for his new club in the 41st minute to cancel out Nabil Fekir's opener, before adding a wonderful second to put Ernesto Valverde's side ahead five minutes after the interval.

The host went on to win 5-2 and banish the disappointment of last week's opening defeat to Athletic Bilbao, and Griezmann, while admitting there is still plenty of work to be done, says he was impressed by how Barca coped without injured duo Messi and Suarez.

"We have improved a lot and we still have details to improve, although this is going in the right direction," he told Movistar.

 

"In the end, when many important people are missing, everyone takes a step forward and today it has been like that.

"After a defeat there are many comments and we had to work hard this week and in the end we played a great game. We have enjoyed it."

Carles Perez, Jordi Alba and Arutro Vidal were also on target for Barca before Loren Moron added a superb consolation late on for the visitor.

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