Ronald Koeman said that he gave Messi some much needed time off during the first half against Real Betis.
He might have kept him there longer if Griezmann had managed to score the three goals he managed to somehow miss in the first half.
One was a penalty.
So Koeman had to bring in the heavy artillery and then Griezmann remembered how to score.
“If he had been completely fine,(said Koeman) he would have played (from the start).We decided to leave him on the bench in case we needed him… In the second half he was very important.”