Koeman leaves the Classical unscathed

Koeman emerged unscathed from El Clásico week. The victories against Valencia and Dinamo Kiev had taken away a certain significance, if it was their future, to the result of the Madrid match. The 1-2 hurt at Barça. To the first, to Koeman, who admitted that when you lose a Classic, “you lose more than three points.” The game, however, drew much more attention to the players than to the coach. “We do not have players of the level and punch that we had before … This is a team under construction”, warned Ramon Planes, technical secretary and defender of the figure of Ronald Koeman, although in his continuity the figure of Rafa Yuste, Barça’s sports vice president, has weighed much more.

Barça was not tactically inferior in the Classic. In fact, he surpassed Madrid at the beginning, but he paid dearly for his lack of talent in the rival area and his innocence in the two actions of Madrid’s goals. Koeman could have had specific errors such as the ownership of Mingueza, but the game was dominated by balance and It did not mean more wear and tear on the figure of the coach despite his disappointment and that he knows, like few others, that the football law forces him to win games. This Classic, however, will not be final.

Although the club’s note of support after some madmen insulted him and beat his car at the Camp Nou exit has more to do with decorum and values ​​and the sense that the club must maintain in any situation, it is not trivial either. Laporta seems to have convinced himself to give Koeman the keys to the club, whatever happens, until the end of the season. A bet for the tranquility of a few months and then make the decision on the new coach with enough time for him to be the right one with a view to the project for the 2022-23 campaign. Koeman, however, does have an important challenge in the Champions League. Barça is gambling its future in Kiev against Dinamo and days later against Benfica. A fall in the first phase of the Champions League after 21 years would make noise and, perhaps, open a new controversy. For the moment, however, Koeman is intact and, yes, forced to win against Rayo and Alavés. Soccer goes fast.