Barcelona’s coach Ronald Koeman defends himself after Barcelona’s draw to Granada. Ronald Koeman was accused of betraying Barcelona’s attacking traditions after their loss to Granada. On Monday, Barcelona was held to a 1-1 draw at the home ground by Granada.
“We changed our style a little bit the spaces were out wide and not in the middle. I went with Pique, De Jong and Araujo, and from one of those crosses, we got the draw,” Koeman said.
This is not the first time Koeman was criticized his position was already fragile after last week’s 3-0 defeat at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, a game in which his team failed to muster a single shot on target.
After their latest loss to Granada, he said that supporters were even angrier about Barcelona’s style than the result. Frustrated with this, he said,” If you see the list of players, what do you do? Olay tiki-taki? Tiki-Taki when there are no spaces?”
Adding to his statement, he said.” We did what we had to do. We tried to win another way. We don’t have players with speed. We’re talking…I will not say more because it seems I have to argue about everything.”
Koeman said he was calm on Sunday, and he does not fear for his future as a Coach of Barcelona. Still, if results and performances do not improve, an already-strained relationship with club president Joan Laporta will be pushed to breaking point. What happened in the game on Monday?
Ronald Koeman brought Gerard Pique off the beach at Camp Nou to play alongside Luuk de Jong. Ronald Araujo, another central defender, was also thrown into the attack as Barca sent I 54 crosses in search of an equalizer.
Araujo finally headed home in injury-time after Domingos Duarte had given Granada an early lead. Still, the whistles at the end from the Barcelona fans indicated a point was not nearly enough.
Barcelona tried to put some pressure, but they never stretched Granada, who could have made their lead double. This would have been a chance for Barcelona to go one step closer to the win.
Sergi Roberto made a shot against the crossbar to begin a surge of pressure, which saw Araujo go close with two headers in quick succession, but it was too late.
As Granada saw the desperation in Barcelona, they became more predictable, too, as more and more crosses were slung into the box, hoping someone might capitalize. Headed over with five-yard De Jong could not score any goal in the last 11 minutes.
Araujo was booked after a skirmish with Granada’s defenders. Then, with the adrenaline still pumping, he grabbed an equalizer for Barcelona, then kept the ball alive in the box and dashed forward to meet Gavi’s chipped ball in.
Barcelona lost one of the best players globally, and the loss is reflected in their games. Lionel Messi was the backbone of Barca, but after he departed from Barcelona, the team was not doing so well, and the Barcelona fans were distraught. The Argentine player is now a member of Paris Saint-Germain after leaving Barca.
