Barcelona vs Athletic I spoke after the contract expired
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Ronald Koeman came out on the defensive Lionel Messi after his earnings at Barcelona were fully disclosed by El Mundo.
Captain Blaugrana opened the scoring against Athletic Club Sunday night with a fantastic franc past Unai simon.
“We’ve known for some time that he’s the best in the world.” Koeman he said when asked about Messi full time.
“He has done a lot for the club. He is decisive during the games.
“It simply came to our notice then [because of the newspaper report].
“You have to respect everything he did.
“What happened was for bad intentions, to cause harm.
“We must be united and focused. Things that are published need to be put aside, but it is difficult.
“He is a great player, he gives us creativity in attack.
“Without Leo, you can’t aspire to much.”
Winning over Athletic takes Barcelona second in the LaLiga Santander, ten points behind the leaders Atletico Madrid.
“The team is getting better,” Koeman added.
“There is concentration, mentality … I’m not saying we haven’t had this before, but we’re growing in confidence.
“We had the ball in the first half. We could have scored more goals. The reaction and mentality were good after their equalizer.
“It simply came to our notice then. We want to be as high as possible.
“The gap with leaders is big, but we have to keep going.”