Can Griezmann show World Cup form for Atletico in a timely Barcelona meeting?

The 2022 World Cup was unique for many reasons.

It was the first World Cup to be played in the Middle East, and the first to take place in the middle of the season, as far as top European clubs are concerned.

One thing that didn't change, of course, was that players could use the tournament as a platform to show off what they could do on the bigger stage, and maybe get some great blows back.

While Josko Gvardiol, Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister and Jude Bellingham are among the players likely to fall into this category, Antoine Griezmann is different.

Griezmann is not the youngster who made a name for himself, but he shone in Qatar because, in the space of seven games, he arguably redefined his own position.

That's not to say that Griezmann hadn't been impressive this season before the World Cup. Prior to the tournament, he had directly contributed to 10 goals for Atletico Madrid, scoring five and creating as many.

Griezmann's form came during a season in which he had to settle for a substitute role until September 18, due to Atleti's attempt to navigate a financial clause of their loan deal with Barcelona, ​​which would have started the 31-year-old played a number of minutes.

If this clause had been activated, Atleti would have had to pay 40 million euros to re-sign Griezmann. In fact, they paid less than half that amount to bring him back to the club permanently in October.

Barca will be next for Atleti in the showpiece of this weekend's LaLiga fixtures. Going into this game, Griezmann is a reinvented player.

The Chief Creator

Griezmann returned from the World Cup with a vigor and verve in his game perhaps not seen since his early years at Atleti from 2017 to 2019.

His goal contributions stand at 13 (five more than any of his teammates) after three assists in two appearances since the restart of Atleti's campaign - one game in La Liga and one in the Copa del Rey.

Griezmann tops the club's goalscoring charts with Alvaro Morata while his tally of seven assists is four ahead of second-best Joao Felix, who looks set to leave the club this month. None of his teammates manages to match the 42 chances created by Griezmann, and 35 of them come from open play.

But it's Griezmann's positioning that's the really interesting aspect of his fine form.

Didier Deschamps has often used Griezmann as a second striker in international football. It was the position he held at Euro 2016 and during France's success at the 2018 World Cup.

However, in Qatar, Griezmann was deployed as the most forward of a midfield trio, and there he showed his ability to not only find space in the final third, but also to run matches.

Only Kylian Mbappe (49) has been involved in more decisive attacking streaks for France at the tournament than Griezmann (30).

However, of Griezmann's 361 touches in open play, only 14 have arrived in the opposing box, with the vast majority clustered in the middle of the park.

That didn't stop Griezmann from exerting his influence. He provided three assists, leading the competition alongside Harry Kane, Bruno Fernandes, Ivan Perisic and Lionel Messi. Unlike all of these players, however, Griezmann's expected assists (xA) of 3.6 were actually slightly underperforming. Essentially, he was creating higher quality chances for those assists than his counterparts.

That quality was evidenced by a sublime cross from Olivier Giroud for France's second goal in the 2-1 quarter-final win over England. the most assists for the Blues. Griezmann's 28 assists rank as the most French players for his country in the past 50 years.

The 22 chances created by Griezmann were the most in the tournament, although only nine of them came from open play. When it came to creativity, Griezmann was at the top of his game.

From poacher to playmaker

It was certainly about picking up where it left off for Griezmann when Atleti faced Elche in La Liga on December 29. Diego Simeone's team won 2-0, and Griezmann was superb.

He scored both goals and created four chances. No player has attempted more passes in the opposing half (37) or played more crosses (five).

Although Atleti lined up in a 3-4-3, with Griezmann nominally positioned on the right flank, his average position was just past the halfway line.

It was a similar story against Real Oviedo on Wednesday in the Copa del Rey. While he was supposed to play in a front two alongside Alvaro Morata, Griezmann's touches were centered around the halfway line, with just two entries into the opposition box.

Agreeing with Morata in a forward line, or even playing as an inside striker in a 3-4-3, is in p...