Google News Koeman: "Rivals are less afraid of us when there is no Messi"
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Barcelona stumbled on the first serious challenge. After a more than good performance in the premier match against Real Sociedad, the team of Ronald Koeman completely failed at San Mames against Bilbao and barely escaped a deserved defeat.
After the match, the Dutch strategist admitted that a lot is behind the departure of Lionel Messi, that is, that the opponents enter the matches with the Catalans with much less respect than before. "Yes, that's right. I don't like what I always talk about, but we're talking about the best player in the world.
Opponents were much more afraid when Messi was there." "When you give Messi the ball, he generally won't lose it. We know that he is no longer with us in the team and we cannot change that, "said Koeman. Memphis Depay was the scorer of the equalizing goal, but Barcelona still has a lot of problems with the attackers.
"Memphis was especially dangerous in the second half, he scored a great goal. We don't have many players in the attack, we have a short choice due to injured players."
Shortcomings
The defense showed a lot of shortcomings.
"It was a great game with a lot of football aspects. I think we complicated the situation too much at the beginning of the match, they pressed us pretty well, we were not calm in the first 15 minutes." "We had a chance to win, but Athletico was at a very high level.
This is a very difficult away game and I cannot be dissatisfied with the result, "said Koeman. Barcelona really did not look good in this match, although they have had problems at San Mames so far since Bilbao has been a tough opponent for Barcelona for a long time.
Barcelona can be happy with the arrival of Depay who has grown into a top player in the last three seasons and has shown that Manchester United has made a mistake. De Jong also played great, moved well, had good passes and if he continues like this Barcelona will have a midfielder for a long time.
They are aware in Barcelona that after Messi's departure, nothing will be the same and that problems await them. The club is in huge debt, all of which is reflected on the players, coaches, and the entire staff. However, now La Liga will be much more interesting because apparently Barcelona and Real Madrid have never been weaker