Without Messi, Antoine Griezmann gets chance to shine at Barcelona
Summary
The French striker finally has the opportunity to take center stage and become a protagonist in Messis absence.I hope I get to play another 100 games and carry on giving everything to make history with this club, Griezmann said. At times, he wasnt even a regular starter and had few minutes off the bench.Now he has the competition of Barcelonas biggest offseason signing, Dutch international Memphis Depay, but coach Ronald Koeman has already hinted they will not be fighting against each other for a starting spot. Koeman said after the preseason that he liked the connection between Griezmann and Depay.Both played well in the teams 4-2 opening victory against Real Sociedad, which marked the start of Barcelonas first season without Messi after 17 years. He will still be missing a few players, including injured veterans Marcelo and Toni Kroos.Levante was the last team to beat Madrid in the league, winning 2-1 in the Spanish capital in January. Madrid has won only two of its last four league matches against Levante.Defending champion Atl\xe9tico Madrid also won its opener, 2-1 at Celta Vigo, and now it hosts Elche with an expected crowd of more than 20,000 at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium after Spanish health authorities allowed the league to restart with up to 40% of fans in stadiums.Atl\xe9tico coach Diego Simeone may have trouble setting up his defense as some players are still recovering from injury and after Mario Hermoso was sent off in the match against Celta.Su\xe1rez, Atl\xe9ticos leading scorer last season after joining from Barcelona, began on the bench in the opener but is expected to be in the starting lineup on Sunday after having an extra week to regain his best form following the preseason.