Koeman continues to make excuses after Rayo 1-0 Barcelona: “We didn’t deserve to lose”

Ronald Koeman spoke to the press after Barcelona’s second successive defeat in the league, this time against Rayo Vallecano. The manager was under a mountain of pressure following the team’s meek display in the Clasico but is now facing much more.

The Dutchman spoke about the result, Nico’s performance and other topics. Here are the key takeaways from his press conference.

Koeman first talked about the team’s response to conceding the first goal of the game once again. He said that the side responded well and created many chances.

“After their goal, we played a good game. We controlled the opponent and generated many chances, but we did not score. That raises doubts.”

Nico was the star of the game. The youngster put in a wonderful shift in midfield and was involved heavily not just in defence but also in creating chances. On his display, Koeman said,

“Nico has played a great game. In the end, I subbed him off because he was very tired, but he helped us a lot today.”

However, the Barcelona manager was adamant that the result was not fair. He insisted that they did not deserve to lose.

“The result is not fair, but the result is there and we cannot change it.”

Koeman earlier complained about not having enough options in attack to score goals. However, he admitted that he could not complain about the same anymore given the return of Kun and Fati amongst others.

“We have players who can score goals. I can’t complain about that.”

Needless to say, Koeman was asked about his future to which he responded, “Is my future in danger? I don’t know.”

The Dutchman then said that Barcelona played with the right attitude, but lost because they could not find the right finish.

“The game we lost today is not about attitude or play. It’s a matter of not scoring.”

Koeman once again expressed his disbelief of the result saying that the team put up a fight of a good level and did not deserve to go home empty-handed.

“There are rivals who have more balanced and more physical teams, but we have shown that we can be at a good level. But that is not enough and what counts is the result. It is incredible that we lost today.”

Barcelona currently sit at ninth position in the League. The manager was asked to comment of the same, to which he said,

“The standings indicate that we are not doing well, that we have lowered our level. We have lost high-quality players, in recent years the top teams have been strengthened and we have not been able to, and that also counts.”

Finally, Koeman added that he was worried about the effectiveness of the team and not the result. He said, “I’m worried about our effectiveness, not our game, but that doesn’t matter here in Spain. I know, it’s a 1-0 loss.”

Source: BarçaTV+