Koeman defends himself and confirms, "Barcelona is no longer what it used to be."

Dutchman Ronald Koeman defended his tactical plans after the deadly and disappointing 1-1 draw at home against Granada yesterday at the conclusion of the fifth stage of the Spanish Football Championship, after receiving criticism for betraying Barcelona's attacking traditions.

Koeman threw the heart of the defense, Gerard Pique from the bench, a quarter of an hour before the end, in an offensive position alongside his compatriot Luc de Jong. cross ball.

Araujo managed to save Barcelona from a loss against its humble guest by scoring the equalizer in the 90th minute, after the visitors advanced through Portuguese Domingos Duarte in the second minute.

"We changed our approach a little bit," Koeman said after the match. "The spaces were on the edges, not in the depth. I pushed Pique, De Jong and Araujo forward, and from one of those crosses we scored the equalizer."

Koeman entered the match under great pressure after his resounding fall against Bayern Munich 0-3 at the Camp Nou at the start of his campaign in the Champions League last week, in a match that the Catalan team failed to hit any ball on the Bavarian goal.

"what should I do?"

After the disappointment against Granada, in which the team escaped a first loss in the league this season, the Dutch coach saw that "the fans were more angry about the lack of victory, not the performance."

"Again I say, Barcelona today is not the Barcelona that was eight years ago. If you see the list of players, what can I do? We play tiki-taka? Tiki-taka where there is no space? We did what we had to do." We tried another way. I'll stop there because it seems I have to argue about everything."

"We don't have players who are highly skilled in the duels or who have high speed," he added.

Koeman had previously insisted on Sunday that he is "calm" and does not fear for his future, but the tense relationship with club president Joan Laporta may be a watershed if results and performance do not improve.

Barcelona raised its score to 8 points in seventh place, knowing that it has a match with Seville that was postponed last week due to the late return of some of its South American players from the international window with their national teams, and their inability to participate in its ranks due to the health protocol related to the Corona virus.

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