Inside Europe: Barcelona crisis goes beyond Ronald Koeman as disappointing season trudges on
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ByEurosport
Updated 21/09/2021 at 14:25 GMT
Ronald Koeman appears to be under more pressure at Barcelona following the disappointing 1-1 draw with Granada in which they required a last minute equaliser from defender Ronald Araujo to salvage a point. Eurosport Spain’s Felix Martin takes a look at what this means for the beleaguered Blaugrana coach.
Koeman: ‘You cannot be happy after drawing against Granada at home’
The torrid times at Barcelona continue following the loss of more precious La Liga points in a 1-1 draw with struggling Granada at the Nou Camp.
The Blaugrana were actually staring down the barrel of a humiliating defeat until defender Ronald Araujo headed in an 89th minute equaliser to spare their blushes.
That Barca were able to salvage a point was the one positive from a poor, desperate performance that at one stage saw manager Ronald Koeman put defender Gerard Pique up front as his side pumped crosses into the penalty area in what was a far cry for the glory days and fluid passing football of years gone by.
Koeman himself is under pressure after a league start that sees them seventh in the table and already five points behind Real Madrid, albeit with a game in hand, as well as being comprehensively beaten 3-0 by Bayern Munich in their opening Champions League game.
But with the backdrop of the club’s crushing debt, it remains unclear whether the club will, or are even able to move him on, let alone find a replacement.
Eurosport Spain’s Felix Martin gave us the latest insight after the club’s most recent setback.
Will the club cut their losses with Koeman? The compensation might be expensive but can they really continue?
We all believe that Koeman won't finish this season in charge even though we had previously read that Laporta and Koeman were having conversations to extend his contract.
But sacking him isn’t that easy, because Barça would have to pay the remaining amount of money of his contract, and we all know Barça's economic situation. The only possible solution would be for Koeman and Laporta to sit down and try to find an agreement.
The rumoured names to replace him include Conte, Pirlo and Xavi. Who is the most likely and are any of these the answer?
I really don't think any other coach could turn Barça's situation around. We haven't seen anything about those names here, and I don't think any of those names would risk their reputation coming to a team with such a poor sporting project for this season.
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Ronald Araujo celebrates
Image credit: Getty Images
Gerard Pique was brought on as a striker against Granada. How bad are things if this is what Koeman is resorting to?
This is a solution that even Real Madrid did last year with Sergio Ramos when things were going bad during a match. I think that he was just trying to find a chance for Barça when playing aerial balls.
The thing here is that Koeman doesn't have any other attacking resources, since Braithwaite, Agüero, Dembélé and Ansu are all injured.
Has he been unlucky with injuries or is his tactical approach to blame?
Again, I believe that Koeman is doing what he possibly can given the team he has.
He's been using the players from the youth team because of the injuries the team has been suffering and how short the team has come to be. And he's relying everything on Depay and Luuk de Jong to try to score goals.
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