Acrobatic Griezmann, solid Ter Stegen steal the show

Terrassa (Barcelona), November 24: Atletico Madrid livewire Antoine Griezmann and Barcelona wall Marc-Andre ter Stegen stealed the limelight with their stellar performances in Wednesday’s (November 22) Champions League night.

Griezmann’s scissors cut sent Roma to shreds while Ter Stegen stood rock solid behind the bar against another Italian club Juventus that helped Barca join elite group of 16.

The 26-year-old Frenchman netted with a spectacular overhead kick from Angel Correa’s cross that received much applauds from the pundits.

Barca’s entry into the knockout stage incidentally coincided with a strong show from the 25-year-old German gloveman – having produced two decisive saves to deny Douglas Costa and Paulo Dybala in their goalless draw in Turin.

Griezmann, who was struggling to find the rhythm until this match, also had an assist towards the end of the tie that ensured full points for Atletico. “My feeling is happiness, for my goal and for my teammates, I feel I have helped them,” Griezmann told BeIn Sports after 2-0 win.

Atleti still have to win their next two matches to stay in the competition. “We're aiming to improve both individually and as a team, we give our best in every match but now we must keep working.

“Before, the ball wasn't going in even though it was for France and in training, it just wasn’t happening in matches.

“Can we qualify? We’ll have to keep going until the end of the group but we knew we had to win this and now see what happen. Now we go to Chelsea and win too,” an optimistic Griezmann said.

While Lionel Messi has been firing in the goals at one end, lanky Ter Stegen has been keeping the ball out at the other end.

Across 17 La Liga and Champions League matches he has conceded just five goals and has accumulated 12 clean sheets. It's not as if he hasn't had much to do, as the 25-year-old has faced 64 shots, saving 54 of them.

Some of those saves have been spectacular, as he has won one-on-one battles with Alaves' Ruben Sobrino, Eibar's Sergi Enrich, Griezmann and Leganes' Nordin Amrabat,
all at crucial moments of those matches.

Ter Stegen has made his name as one of the world's best goalkeepers this season, if not the best, a fact acknowledged by his team-mate Lucas Digne.

"For me, ter Stegen is the best goalkeeper in the world right now," the full-back told reporters. "He is playing at an extremely high level."