Koeman Asks Supporters For Understanding, Barcelona Cannot Always Win

Ronald Koeman and Lionel Messi (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman asked his team's supporters for understanding that Las Blaugranas is now not the favorite club to win every match it will take.

He also admitted that he still had difficulty accepting certain attitudes about how his team should play.

Barcelona on Wednesday will host leaders Real Sociedad at Camp Nou in Matchday 19 of the Spanish League, which has been put forward to match the schedule for the Spanish Super Cup in January.

The match arrived, after Barcelona narrowly won 1-0 over Levante last weekend, to end the disappointment of losing against promoted Cadiz in the Spanish League and beaten by Juventus in the Champions League.

The defeat against Cadiz exacerbated Barcelona's most negative start to the Spanish league season in 33 years, while the result against Juventus saw them fail to win the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2006/07.

"The pressure here is very strong, everyone is demanding that you win every game," Koeman told a news conference quoted by Reuters on Tuesday night.

"But the club situation is different now and you all have to accept that we can't always win," he added.

Previously, in his post-match comments after defeating Levante, Koeman gave a curt answer when asked by reporters about his decision to include defender Samuel Umtiti at the end of the match in order to maintain Barcelona's advantage, a move that was considered to be against Las Blaugranas' attacking philosophy.

"I can understand criticism when I lose four or five games, but yesterday I was criticized for bringing in a defender at the last minute and I couldn't understand it because we needed the win," said Koeman.

"But we obviously cannot be overjoyed at the results we have achieved so far, defeats in matches that should not have happened. We continue to try to improve things and yesterday's results were quite important. The team worked hard and showed a good attitude and I hope those three points can inject mentally. for tomorrow's match, "he also said.

Barcelona are currently in eighth place with a collection of 17 points, and have a chance to break into the top five if they win against Sociedad tomorrow.