BARCELONA – Ronald Koeman assured on Saturday that he expects a “very close” final against Athletic Bilbao, revealed that Barcelona is “good and happy to play a final” and left the presence of Lionel Messi in the air, warning that he will it depends “on himself, his feelings after training and how he is tomorrow.”
The Dutch coach, who can release his title record at the head of Barcelona, considered Athletic’s “justified” victory over Real Madrid, rejected any anger at not being able to sign on this winter market and revealed that he rejected the representative’s request. Net to leave the club.
These were Koeman’s most prominent phrases at the press conference:
MESS
“Leo trained individually yesterday and today he will do it with the group. We will see if he can be in the final or not. In the end, the player himself always has the last word and we will wait tomorrow to see how his body reacts, but we hope that you can be at the party “.
“For any coach, if you can rely on the best, he always gives you more options to win. We are talking about the number one in the world and if he is not there we are missing something. With Leo the team is stronger in football, with its creativity and effectiveness than we sometimes lack ”.
“We have our system, our game behind us. Of course, it determines if Leo is there, because we are talking about the best in the world. All players have to be one hundred percent, because it is not the last game of the season. Many others will come later. Messi will train and tomorrow we will talk according to his feelings “.
THE FINAL
“I expect a difficult game against a hard-working opponent who is very competitive. We have to try to play our game, but it always depends on the opponent. The other day Real pressed us well and it was difficult to get into the game. . “
“In the final you don’t have to motivate the players. You have to follow the plan we have and be calm. There are so many desires to win that you don’t have to put more pressure than normal. You know you can win a title, but you have to focus on things easily. “
“It’s an important match because it’s a final, it’s a title and it serves to show that we’re on the right track. The Super Cup is not the most important trophy, of course, but in every title you put behind your name is good in your career, as a player or as a coach. “
“Winning is always convenient to say we are on the right track. To our confidence and to show that we have improved things. We have to be very involved because we will find an opponent who will put everything on the field.”
“They certainly analyzed us from the last game, the system … We have to be prepared in many things.”
“To have experience in the finals you have to play them. There are young people, but also people who have a lot of experience. There is enough maturity and experience and this gives us peace of mind. Young people have to learn and for that they have to play the final.”
“For a Super Cup final you don’t have to be particularly motivated. You have to be calm, confident and follow the match plan we have. We have already seen how we fight and there are a lot of desires to win … plan on which we have lately. “
“Athletic’s victory against Real Madrid shows that anything is possible in football. It is a demonstration that anything can happen tomorrow. If Athletic is competitive, it can complicate the game. The past few days have been effective against Madrid and it has been worth going through a lot. ”.
MARKET
“Outings? One thing is young people. We have already said that when we talk about young people it is important to have minutes and improve. Another thing is Neto. It is true that his representative asked for an exit and I said no because it is important. for us and we want to have all the positions well covered ”.
“I read and heard that I am upset or unhappy because I can’t sign anyone and it’s not true. I’m fine, happy. I know the financial limitations of the club perfectly. And if it’s not possible, we will continue with what we have.”