Australia's captain Tim Paine has called for an end to demands for a pink Test match ball that behaves identically to a red one, arguing that the players and followers needed to accept floodlit long-form cricket for the high drawing entertainment product that it is.

Paine's team defeated Pakistan by an innings and 48 runs in front of 91,879 people at Adelaide Oval and healthy broadcast audiences around Australia, with the attendance more than double that of the first Test at the Gabba in Brisbane, despite far less favourable weather conditions.

These facts have underlined the case for pink-ball cricket, something the Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts had magnified by quipping in Brisbane that he would personally like to see Australia's Test series against India next summer played exclusively as day-night matches. But in the face of some scepticism still remaining among his players - Mitchell Starc stating that the pink ball behaves more like a white ball - Paine argued that the floodlit game's challenges and subtleties needed to be seen on their own merit.

"I think what we want is people watching Test match cricket and I think the pink-ball day-night Test certainly makes that happen," Paine said. "It's bringing new people to the game. I think what we need to stop doing is trying to compare the pink ball to the red ball. It's not going to behave the same, it isn't the same ball. And from a players' point of view again, day-night Test cricket creates different challenges so the best players will again find way to succeed. And Mitchell Starc has done it. His record is unbelievably good with the pink ball.

"David Warner has just got a triple century. Marnus got a 100. All the good players still score runs and take wickets regardless of the colour I think it's just a slight shift in how we think about it. It's not going to behave like a red ball, it's not going to behave like a white ball. It's going to behave like a pink ball. And at the moment it's relatively new and we're getting used to it. It can be challenging fielding at night and being in the slips but I don't think that's any different to a white ball sometimes either.

"It's just something players will adapt to and get better at but in terms of the product I think it's good to watch."

One of the changes wrought by the day-night conditions was Paine's decision to enforce the follow-on well after he would usually have batted a second time, due to the fact the post-dinner session promised more movement and assistance for the pace bowlers. "If we had taken the wickets quickly we would've bowled as well," Paine said. "We were hoping to get them a lot quicker than we did.

"In the end it became a close one because had it been a red ball we probably would've batted again had it been a normal Test match, but it took us time to get those wickets so then the night session was coming again and we saw a few years ago against England that the game can change really quickly under the lights. A lead of close to 300, only a few hours to bowl, we knew if our bowlers could take a couple of early wickets and we get them home, get them asleep and rested that they'd come back and fire for us today.

"It was getting closer to having a bat, but the conditions have certainly favoured bowling at night and a couple of our batters were pretty keen to keep bowling. I thought last night when the lights came on it was a pretty simple decision, although our bowlers had bowled a lot of overs, they had a decent rest for the first two days so we knew they had plenty in the tank."

CA is yet to enter into formal discussions with India about whether their series in Australia next summer will include one or more pink-ball Test matches, though both Roberts and the CA chairman Earl Eddings have commented positively about the fact the BCCI have at last scheduled a home pink-ball Test, the recent match against Bangladesh in Kolkata.

Babar Azam's graduation to the top rank of Test batsmen, via a superb century in Brisbane and an equally stirring 97 at Adelaide Oval, which earned him a standing ovation, was a rare ray of light for Pakistan through the murk of a 2-0 series thrashing at the hands of an opposition more battle-hardened than them.

Pakistan's captain Azhar Ali spoke happily of Babar's displays, which began with a century against Australia A in the pink-ball warm-up match in Perth, as of the kind that would allow the 25-year-old to head home believing he was ready to be more consistently dominant at the Test level. Australia has, in the past, provided formative moments for the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Jacques Kallis, the anvil on which their games have been shaped and perfected before later feats elsewhere.

"He's been tremendous in white-ball cricket and in the recent past, he's been gradually building up his Test stats as well," Azhar said of Babar. "But this series definitely will be the breakthrough he wanted. We were all hopeful that he'll do it. He's a good enough player. We all know that. But sometimes if you score in tough conditions against tough bowling attacks, it gives you the extra boost and the belief that you can make even better strides in Test cricket.

"That's been a big positive now for us that Babar has stamped himself a Test player. He's been fantastic throughout the year and he's been lovely to watch and hopefully he can continue this form in the Tests that are coming."

"Most importantly, 'A' team tours and Under-19 tours are very important. Players who come here more often and play in these conditons will benefit from that" Azhar Ali

Similarly, Mohammad Rizwan vindicated the decision to move to him as first-choice wicketkeeper by offering plenty with the bat, gloves and with his voice in the field, even if Pakistan's bowlers and fielders were unable to maintain the pressure they needed to.

"He's been performing in first-class cricket for a few years now. And then he had a fantastic couple of 'A' tours in Dubai. And then he played against Australia in one-day cricket and scored centuries there as well," Azhar pointed out. "He's been waiting and obviously Sarfaraz [Ahmed] is another one who'd been performing really well for Pakistan. We have a very healthy competition.

"Rizwan waited for his chance and then grabbed it with both hands. The way he batted at Gabba and the way he kept wickets in both games has been fantastic. His energy is always good for the team, whenever we were down in the field, he kept us up. That's fantastic for any team. He's a team man."

Those efforts were, of course, overshadowed by a yawning gap between the teams, reflected in the results, something Azhar said was because of the weaknesses in his bowling attack and also the need to play more 'A' series in these parts of the world.

"It has been a disappointing series. We didn't live up the expectations that were based around this young team," he said. "This was the best possible team we could have picked, especially with regards to the bowling options. But you also have to see that in Australia you need a certain kind of pace attack. And in our domestic cricket, we don't have those kind of pacers. The moment you have to bowl with a Kookaburra, you need an extra element of pace.

"But we felt that these guys were in the best shape to deal with the conditions here, and that'll be the case in the future. We shouldn't get too disappointed about this and keep in mind that young bowlers like these will only play more cricket and get better. We need to show some patience.

"I think, most importantly, 'A' team tours and Under-19 tours are very important. Players who come here more often and play in these conditons will benefit from that. Last time and this time, we came here a couple of weeks before the Tests. It gives you a better idea and preparation. You have to consider that always. There won't be any condition like this in Pakistan. The surfaces are different. It's the same when Pakistan go to Dubai or Pakistan. They've played on hard surfaces and need to adapt to the slower wickets there.

"But Australia has the best batting conditions in the world. There's even bounce, the cracks don't open too early in the game. If you get used to bounce and pace, you can see players from Pakistan can score runs. Last time we scored big runs, Asad [Shafiq] and I scored a lot. But to win Test matches we need to take 20 wickets and we need to work out how to do that. And also to score big in the first innings. Get ahead of the game here is very important."

It speaks volumes for the enduring skills of Neil Wagner that, while other bowlers will look back at this series and shudder, he will reflect on it with a satisfied smile.

For while bowlers as celebrated as Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad have laboured without much success - Archer has taken two wickets so far at a cost of 100.50 apiece, Broad four at 38.75 - Wagner has claimed five-wicket hauls in both Tests despite surfaces offering him nothing.

It's no aberration, either. Wagner has now taken five-wicket hauls in his last four Tests. His position at No. 3 in the ICC Test bowling rankings can only have been consolidated. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah and James Anderson trail in his wake.

ALSO READ: How Wagner wanged his way to the top

The ingredients of Wagner's success are not immediately obvious. He is not especially tall, not especially quick and not, in terms of ability to generate lateral movement, especially talented. And yet there he is, again, with a five-wicket haul.

So, how does he do it?

"I bowl a lot of overs," he said. "And if you bowl the majority of the overs the chances are high that you can take some wickets, too. That's my role."

It's a simplification, of course. Wagner has actually bowled fewer overs in the series against England than Tim Southee and, while Southee has had the new ball, Wagner has been obliged to come on later. But it is true that Wagner's stamina allows him to bowl long spells - he has bowled more of 10-overs or more than any other bowler since his debut - with liberal use of the short ball.

"One of my only attributes is that I bowl a lot of overs and I can back it up and keep going," he said. "I'm blessed with my body that it's been pretty good and I can bowl long spells. If you keep putting pressure on then hopefully wickets come your way."

He was equally modest about his success in the Hamilton Test. "I thought I was bit lucky to get the rewards. All the other bowlers bowled well and grafted away. It just sort of came my way and I ended up getting a couple of wickets. But all the bowlers bowled well with not a lot of luck and reward. We hunt as a pack and bowl really well in partnerships and luckily it came our way."

There's a grain of truth in that explanation. Wagner picked up four wickets in the final seven overs of the England innings here when the batsmen decided to attempt to accelerate to set up a declaration. So, after hours of careful accumulation, Ollie Pope was punished for attempting to hit a short ball to the boundary and Chris Woakes nicked off driving on the up.

But Wagner also had the skill to exploit such a situation. So Broad and Archer were both deceived by slower, knuckle-ball deliveries. And yes, Wagner's haul included the wickets of England's No. 9, No. 10 and No. 11 but two of those men have Test centuries behind them and, on this surface, no wickets come easily. His figures, at one stage, were 1 for 114. Over his next 19 deliveries, he claimed four wickets for 10 runs.

"We felt that if we were going at two runs an over, we could try to tie them down and it would make it hard for them to get a big enough lead to put us under pressure," he said. "So we had to play a patient game and build towards that period where we got wickets in clumps.

"Sometimes in New Zealand conditions you've got to graft away and try and tire them out to get to a point where they try to step on the gas and you know you've got a chance of getting a couple of wickets. It happened that way here."

There was a moment earlier in the day when it seemed Wagner's match might be over. Bowling to Joe Root, he saw the batsman advance down the wicket and thrash a ball back down the pitch. The crack as it hit Wagner echoed around the ground and was closely followed by gasps. A broken leg seemed possible.

As it was, Wagner barely even rubbed the blow. According to him, the ball missed his knee or shins and hit a foot relatively well protected by his bowling boots. He simply carried on as if nothing had happened.

"I was just lucky it wasn't in the face or in the head," Wagner said. "It just hit the foot and it's just one of those things where it hurts at the time but you just jump back on it and keep going. It's the nature of the game."

Maybe. But you suspect some other bowlers, confronted by surfaces like this, might have taken the opportunity to take some time off the pitch. For Wagner the thought wouldn't occur. New Zealand are lucky to have him.

European 5000m silver medallist starts her winter with a win in Sheffield

A report on Joshua Cheptegei’s world 10km road record of 26:38 in Valencia can be found here, while coverage of marathon action in the Spanish city – including two course records and a European record – can be found here.

Other recent highlights are below.

Percy Pud 10km, Sheffield, December 1

Eilish McColgan clocked a PB of 31:48 to successfully round off 2019 and start her winter with a win.

The European 5000m silver medallist was back in action after a three week break and claimed women’s race victory ahead of Lauren Heyes (34:32).

McColgan’s mark improves on her previous best of 31:51 clocked in Doha at the beginning of the year and consolidates her place at 11th on the UK all-time list.

Gives me a lot of confidence off the back of my break, and hopefully a good indicator of things to come.. Maybe I'll take a 3 week holiday more often! ? Joking aside, it's a great way to cap off 2019 and a really promising start to my winter training! ? #2019 #percypud pic.twitter.com/I7A4vwU3Fp

— Eilish McColgan (@EilishMccolgan) December 1, 2019

Omar Ahmed won the men’s race in 29:00 ahead of Andrew Heyes in 29:19.

Both winning times were course records, earning McColgan and Ahmed £1000 cheques.

“When you consider how ‘undulating’ our course is, these are both phenomenal race times posted,” said organisers.

A total of 2815 participants completed the 27th running of the Steel City Striders event.

Alton Sports Hampshire Cross Country League, Aldershot, November 30

Reading’s Jess Gibbon won the 5.9km women’s race in 21:58, finishing 32 seconds ahead of Aldershot, Farnham & District’s recent 2:26 marathoner Steph Twell.

Annabel Gummow of Winchester was third in 22:34.

Under-20 athlete Cameron Allen won the men’s 9.1km race in 31:36 ahead of Twell’s husband Joe Morwood (31:50) and Corey De’Ath (32:09) as Aldershot athletes filled the first five places.

Podium 5k, Barrowford, November 30

Ciara Mageean won the women’s race in 15:48, while Andy Smith won the men’s in 14:52.

Podium wins in arctic conditions for Andy Smith 14.52 and @ciaramageean 15.48 (times unconfirmed) pic.twitter.com/m690XPjxDv

— podium 5k road race (@podium5k) November 30, 2019

Fukuoka Marathon, Japan, December 1

Morocco’s El Mahjoub Dazza won by more than two minutes in 2:07:10.

Japan’s Taku Fujimoto (2:09:36) and Jo Fukuda (2:10:33) completed the podium.

Osaka Marathon, Japan, December 1

Ethiopia’s Asefa Tefera (2:07:47) and Aberu Mekuria (2:26:29) both set course records to win.

Montferland Run 15km, Netherlands, December 1

Kenya’s Geoffrey Koech won the men’s race in 42:13, five seconds ahead of his compatriot Josphat Boit.

Ethiopia’s 19-year-old Tsige Gebreselama won the women’s race in 47:29 from Kenya’s Joan Chelimo (47:37).

Canadian Cross Country Championships, Abbotsford, November 30

Genevieve Lalonde won the senior women’s title as Scotland’s Sarah Inglis was second, nine seconds back.

Mike Tate won the senior men’s title.

Raise your arms into the sky, the 2019 Canadian Cross Country Championships are in the books ?#ACXC2019 #ACXC pic.twitter.com/K3cxU6R7C4

— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) December 1, 2019

National governing body names 68 athletes set to receive support through its Olympic World Class Programme

Dina Asher-Smith, Mo Farah and Katarina Johnson-Thompson are among the 68 athletes named on the Olympic World Class Programme lists for 2020.

Of the three tiers to the programme, 16 athletes have been listed for ‘Olympic Podium’ level support, 29 for ‘Olympic Podium Potential’ and 23 for ‘Olympic Relays’.

The overall figure of athletes offered Olympic support is two more than in 2018-19.

Asher-Smith and Johnson-Thompson both gained gold at the IAAF World Championships in Doha, while Farah has recently announced he will be targeting a return to the track as he hopes to race the 10,000m at the Olympics in Tokyo after focusing on the marathon during the past couple of years.

After being listed solely for relay level support in 2018-19 but having gone on to finish fourth in the 200m in Doha, Adam Gemili will now receive individual Olympic Podium support.

Neil Gourley, Abigail Irozuru, Chris McAlister, Aimee Pratt, Charlotte Purdue, Jessica Turner, Steph Twell, Jamie Webb, Ben Williams and Jodie Williams have been added to the programme, while Rosie Clarke, Adam Hague, Desiree Henry, Shara Proctor and Adelle Tracey are among the athletes who do not retain their places.

Jake Wightman and Tom Bosworth, who finished fifth and seventh in the 1500m and 20km race walk respectively in Doha, have  moved from Olympic Podium Potential to Olympic Podium level support.

The World Class Programme (WCP) is UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded initiative designed to support the delivery of success at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. British Athletics adds that membership on the 2020 WCP is based on an athletes’ potential to win a medal at Tokyo 2020 or Paris 2024.

Due to the late staging of the World Para Athletics Championships, the full WCP including Paralympic levels is set to be announced in the new year.

British Athletics Olympic World Class Programme 2020

Olympic Podium (16)
Dina Asher-Smith
Tom Bosworth
Holly Bradshaw
Mo Farah
Adam Gemili
Callum Hawkins
Sophie Hitchon
Zharnel Hughes
Abigail Irozuru
Katarina Johnson-Thompson
Nick Miller
Laura Muir
Reece Prescod
Lynsey Sharp
Lorraine Ugen
Jake Wightman

Olympic Podium Potential (29)
Andrew Butchart
Taylor Campbell
Melissa Courtney
Tim Duckworth
Niamh Emerson
Tom Gale
Elliot Giles
Neil Gourley
Charlie Grice
Dewi Griffiths
Josh Kerr
Morgan Lake
Kyle Langford
Chris McAlister
Eilish McColgan
Sarah McDonald
Naomi Ogbeta
Shelayna Oskan-Clarke
Andrew Pozzi
Aimee Pratt
Charlotte Purdue
Jemma Reekie
Daniel Rowden
Jazmin Sawyers
Steph Twell
Jamie Webb
Laura Weightman
Callum Wilkinson
Ben Williams

Olympic Relays (23)
Amy Allcock
Kristal Awuah
Cameron Chalmers
Zoey Clark
Emily Diamond
Beth Dobbin
Eilidh Doyle
Miguel Francis
Matthew Hudson-Smith
Richard Kilty
Imani-Lara Lansiquot
Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake
Daryll Neita
Ashleigh Nelson
Laviai Nielsen
Asha Philip
Martyn Rooney
Danny Talbot
Jessica Turner
CJ Ujah
Jodie Williams
Bianca Williams
Rabah Yousif

Scrum-half Joe Simpson has extended his contract with Gloucester.

The former England international, 31, joined the Cherry and Whites from Wasps in the summer on a one-year deal.

Simpson, who featured in the 2011 World Cup, has made a superb start to his Gloucester career, scoring eight tries in his nine appearances so far.

The club have therefore moved to cement his longer-term future at Kingsholm, although the length of his new deal has not been disclosed.

"I've loved my time here so far," said Simpson.

"Everyone at Gloucester Rugby made me feel really welcome from the moment I arrived ahead of pre-season.

"It's a terrific set-up, a great bunch of players and we're starting to show what we can do on the pitch."

Australia 3 for 589 dec (Warner 335*, Labuschagne 162) beat Pakistan 302 (Yasir 113, Azam 97, Starc 6-66) and 239 (Masood 68, Shafiq 57, Lyon 5-69) by an innings and 48 runs

There was resistance, as there had been before, but it came when the game was so far beyond saving it seemed futile. Pakistan went right through to the final session before Australia finally wore them down and succumbed to another convincing innings defeat. A few positives aside, this really has been a bleak series for the visitors.

Nathan Lyon enjoyed a bit of personal glory, completing his first five-wicket haul against Pakistan. It will do his confidence much good, given the offspinner's rather ordinary numbers against this particular opposition, and in a contest where every one of Australia's bowlers enjoyed great success, they couldn't have hoped for a better launch pad to the three-match series against New Zealand later this month.

Shan Masood and Asad Shafiq began the day simply hoping to take the Test as deep as was possible, and the early signs weren't terrible. In the day time the pitch flattened out and once the batsmen got themselves in the runs even began to flow. Once again, however, it highlighted the struggles of Pakistan in the evening session, which had yesterday seen three of their top-order batsmen off before the innings properly got going. It was a similar pattern as the first innings, where the night session saw Pakistan lose more than half their side before the Yasir Shah and Babar Azam rearguard.

Masood, in particular, combined patience with belligerence early on, consecutive boundaries off Micthell Starc demonstrating the intent he harboured. He used his feet against Lyon to deposit him over long-on, trying to work himself back to form after at testing series. Shafiq looked almost completely untroubled, and in those moments, there might even have been hope Pakistan would make Australia bat once more. When the partnership moved past hundred and both men brought up their half-centuries radio commentary in Pakistan even mooted the possibility of a final day smash and grab.

But hope to Pakistan is like locusts to agricultural farmers; they never comfortable allowing it to proliferate. The extermination began when Masood danced down to Lyon and, failing to get to the pitch of the delivery, spooned the simplest chance to mid-off. Shafiq, meanwhile, has mastered the art of scoring pretty but ultimately meaningless runs; he's made a successful career out of it. He ensured there would be no departure from that script, and for good measure even ensured he'd get out in the most Shafiq way possible, flicking a catch to leg slip off Lyon. That fielder had been exclusively placed for that shot and one who was rather hard to miss.

But even so, Australia had themselves done little to suggest they could blow the side away, given the two wickets had almost been gifted to them. So when Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed began to scramble together another partnership and the lead whittled down to double figures, Australia might have pondered having a target to chase. However, talk of that was still much too premature, especially as Lyon continued to plug away, bowling better than he's ever done against Pakistan. When some extra bounce rapped Ahmed on the gloves and Marnus Labuschagne - finally - held on to one at short leg, the Australian kitman could have probably put his feet up.

The finish, there onwards, was at least entertainingly Pakistani. Yasir was trapped in front, so plumb that even if they were playing with just middle stump, it still wouldn't be worth a review. Yasir, however, had a century under his belt and felt it was worth reviewing, if only to spend a few extra moments out in the middle. Later, when Rizwan tried to farm the strike and ensure they got through to the dinner break without any further damage, Shaheen Afridi decided to lash out at Lyon, skying the ball instead and giving the offspinner his five-fer.

The best bit of comedy was still to follow. Muhammad Musa drove one to mid-on and, for some reason, Mohammad Abbas believed it to be a cue for a single. By the time he would realise it was anything but, Pat Cummins was already taking aim. And just like Pat Cummins so often does, he hit the stumps.

In Pakistan, however, the joke is unlikely to be much appreciated. While Australia steel themselves for a series against New Zealand likely to test them more than this one has, Pakistan will have to regroup quickly ahead of a two-match home series against Sri Lanka. What might have otherwise been a celebration of cricket coming home has become very serious business.

LOS ANGELES -- In more than two decades of coaching, Doc Rivers says he's never had a team where its two best players have yet to practice together with the starting unit 21 games into the season.

Yet despite the fact that Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are still waiting for that practice to happen, the LA Clippers are putting up staggering offensive numbers that the franchise has never seen. For the second time this season, the Clippers scored 150 points at home, this time demolishing the Washington Wizards on Sunday night 150-125.

Not bad considering the Clippers only reached 150 points in a game just once before in franchise history prior to this season when they scored 152 points against the Toronto Raptors in 1998.

"I [still] think it's going to take time, just learning each other, playing in these games," Leonard said of the Clippers having plenty of room to get better. "We're still up and down, sometimes our offense is stagnant ... or doing early quick shots without moving the ball."

"But we can be special."

Rivers said he was thrilled with the Clippers improving to 15-6 despite the fact he has had George and Leonard play together in only six games this season.

"I don't know how many years I've coached, 20 maybe, but I've never had where my best two players going into game 21 have yet to have a practice together on the floor -- not one," Rivers said before the win of not being able to hold many practices due to the schedule and wanting to keep his veterans fresh. "They've had one practice where they're opposing [each other in practice], but they have yet to be in the same lineup and have a practice.

"I don't think I've ever even heard of that. And yet that's us right now. I think we've had three shootarounds with this group."

And still, the Clippers joined the Houston Rockets as the only teams to score 150 points twice this season. Both the Rockets and Clippers reached those marks against the same teams -- the Atlanta Hawks and Wizards.

The Clippers did the majority of their damage against Washington with four players on offense. Leonard led just four Clippers in double-digits with 34 points. George scored 31 while Lou Williams had 22 points and Montrezl Harrell had 23 points and 15 rebounds off the bench.

This was only the fifth time in NBA history that a team scored 150 points with just four players reaching 10 points and it was the first time since the Seattle SuperSonics did so in November 1989 according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

George bounced back from his worst game as a Clipper, scoring 27 points in the first half against Washington after going 2-for-11 and scoring five points with five turnovers in a loss at San Antonio last Friday.

Next up for the Clippers is a home game against Portland on Tuesday when George is reunited with former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Carmelo Anthony.

"I mean it's great," George said of Anthony, who is averaging 17.7 points and 6.0 rebounds in six games since joining the Blazers. "I just hate how [his] first game, Melo came back, the whole media was [focused on] his plus-minus was this and him being on the floor, Portland generated this and now he's playing well and the media is [pointing out how] three games straight where he did this.

"I just hate the narratives that's created by him being back," George added about critics focused on Anthony's style of play. "Melo has been a great player, he's going to be a great player, he's playing terrific from start to finish and shout out to Portland for opening that door back up for Melo and prolonging his career."

Leonard said he is happy to see Anthony back and that he felt the former All-Star forward was unfairly held out of the league.

"He is able to get an opportunity and get a chance to go out there and pretty much be himself," Leonard said. "I'm just happy for him that he was able to get back in the NBA. It is well-deserved. I don't think he was treated the right way, how they left him out there being a future Hall of Famer.

"As you can see he's still running up and down the floor, so he's still got a lot of basketball left in him. It's going to be a fun matchup for us."

Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann was targeted by Atletico Madrid fans with chants and banners on his first return to the club.

Barca won 1-0 thanks to a late Lionel Messi goal which was enough to see them return to the top of La Liga.

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"You wanted to have a name and you forgot to be a man," a banner in the Wanda Metropolitano's Fondo Sur read.

As Griezmann warmed up for the game on the pitch, Atletico fans chanted "Griezmann die."

And whistles greeted his name being read out over the PA system ahead of the game, while his first touch was met in a similar fashion. Griezmann's plaque outside the stadium, in honour of him playing more than 100 games for the club, had toy rats left on it prematch.

ESPN FC has contacted La Liga to ask if any action is set to be taken.

The France international's €120 million move to Barcelona in the summer was controversial.

Griezmann had publicly turned down a move to Barca in the summer of 2018 but only a year later left Atletico when the Catalan club paid his release clause.

Barca waited for Griezmann's buy-out clause to drop from €200m to €120m on July to make their move.

Atletico reported Barcelona to the Spanish Competition Committee for breaking its rules by beginning negotiations with Griezmann while he was under contract with them without their permission.

The Spanish Competition Committee fined Barca only €300 a breach of rules but absolved the player of any responsibility.

ESPN FC's Adriana Garcia contributed to this report

MADRID -- "You wanted to have a name and you forgot to be a man," the banner read. Raised by fans in the Wanda Metropolitano's Fondo Sur in the pouring rain, midway through the second half of a thrilling game that ended in a late 1-0 victory for Barcelona over Atletico Madrid, there was little doubt of the intended target.

Like every player with more than 100 games for the club, Antoine Griezmann has a plaque outside this stadium. The weather meant the Promenade of Legends was deserted as the Barcelona bus pulled up on Sunday. Deserted, that is, except for a trio of toy rats left on the spot that marks the five seasons Griezmann wore an Atletico shirt.

The French forward's €120 million summer transfer to Barca made fans in the capital angry -- really angry. It wasn't just the move itself. Twelve months after Griezmann had pulled the plug on the same deal in his infamous The Decision documentary, it was the feeling that Griezmann had to join Barcelona to eat at the table of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, as he himself once put it; it was the suspicion that a deal likely had been struck while Atleti were still competing for trophies against his new employers.

Deafening whistles greeted Griezmann's name as it was read out over the Wanda Metropolitano PA, matching or even exceeding the Bernabeu's reaction to Gareth Bale last weekend. His first touch was met in a similar fashion, as he adopted his now customary position on the left wing, and again a few seconds later, as he hugged the left touchline even more closely.

Griezmann's role is different now. He is a big-money signing -- albeit cheap considering his quality and the state of the market -- that must be squeezed into a Barca team that revolves around Messi. He was Atletico Madrid's star, their marquee player.

"History and the numbers speak for themselves," Atletico manager Diego Simeone said before Sunday's game. It's hard to argue.

Griezmann has scored more goals at the Wanda Metropolitano (29) than any other player. He was key to Atletico reaching the Champions League final in 2016, eliminating Barca along the way, and winning the Europa League in 2018. He scored 133 goals in five years at Atleti, establishing himself as the best player in La Liga outside of Messi and Ronaldo. But for him, it wasn't enough.

Now he has the chance to eat at the same table as Messi and Ronaldo. Literally, in Messi's case.

"We've had dinners together," Griezmann revealed this week, speaking to UEFA about his Barca adaptation process. "What happens off the pitch can only help us do well on the pitch."

So far, on the pitch has been the problem. Messi only passed once to Griezmann in Barca's 2-1 win at Leganes last weekend. Both players scored against Borussia Dortmund in midweek, but a sense of disconnect remains. Sunday''s performance was Griezmann's Barcelona career to date in miniature.

A breathless first half often passed him by. His best moment came with 36 minutes gone, winning the ball in central midfield and exchanging passes with Luis Suarez, whose snap shot flew just wide. Two minutes later he was shoved off the ball by Koke in the centre circle and sat looking perplexed on the wet turf, his pleas for a free kick waved away by referee Mateu Lahoz.

There were moments of frustration with his left-sided partner Junior Firpo, too, Griezmann pointing to exactly where he wanted to receive the ball, moments after he hadn't. Griezmann is keen to impress, perhaps overly so. He sometimes appears to be trying too hard, over-thinking every move.

"It's a new position for me on the left," he said this week. "I still haven't gotten used to the movements of Luis, or Leo or Ousmane [Dembele]."

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Griezmann's glitter-throwing goal celebrations and documentary films might lead you to believe he's an extrovert. He isn't. He is shy and sensitive, not the kind of character who relishes a night like this, with sporadic, energetic chants of "Griezmann die" from the Atletico ultras.

With almost 20 minutes remaining, a chance came. Barcelona broke, Messi embarking on a mazy run, resisting repeated Atletico attempts to bring him down. The ball fell to Suarez on the left, who played it first time to Griezmann in space on the right. He volleyed confidently, first time, over the bar.

Messi could have passed to him in the buildup to the game's only goal, opting instead to bounce the ball off Suarez before scoring a quintessential Messi curler into the bottom corner, Griezmann's contribution limited to a decoy run from left to right.

He played the full 90 minutes, and at the final whistle did not hurry off the pitch, taking time to embrace current and former teammates. Nonetheless, he was still the first Barcelona player to disappear down the Wanda Metropolitano tunnel.

It was Barcelona's night, but it wasn't Griezmann's.