BARCELONA – Joan Laporta wasted no time on his first day as president-elect of Barcelona and, as he promised the day before, accompanied by former sports vice-president Rafael Yuste, he went to the club’s Ciudad Deportiva to meet in person with Ronald. to talk. Koeman and the roster of the first team, to whom he conveyed a message of optimism and confidence for his trip to Paris, where he will face PSG on Wednesday in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16.
Laporta had a short personal conversation with the Dutch coach, which started at the exit of the dressing room and continued on the way to the training ground, in which he reaffirmed his full confidence and called him for another working meeting laying a solid foundation. now prepared for the future, a demand that Koeman had clearly repeated in recent weeks.
If his meeting with the squad was close, it was especially affectionate with Leo Messi, whom he sincerely embraced and directly thanked him for participating in the election. They didn’t talk about the Argentinian’s future, nor did they hold a meeting to discuss the renewal, but the image of the closeness between the two showed a clear optimism.
Between optimistic and reckless, with an inordinate euphoria, Laporta closed the celebration of his election victory on Sunday evening with a private label announcement. “Let’s go to Paris to see if we can go back!” Roared the new president amid the excitement of his neighbor … And what could be understood as a toast to the sun was repeated this Monday in the sports city. “If we’ve done it once, we can do it again,” said the manager, who showed very close to Koeman and the squad that he trusted them blindly.
Barcelona must overcome a 1-4 advantage in Paris that PSG took in the first leg of the round of 16, with a hat-trick from Kylian Mbappé at the Camp Nou. Laporta was referring to ‘La Remontada’, the remembered march against PSG itself in the second round of 2017, when they fell 0-4 at Parc des Princes, but threw 6-1 in the return home.
“I know they are able to achieve it, but most of all I know they will compete,” Laporta stepped into the locker room, in an unambiguous message that was very well received by the footballers, some of whom also to Messi, took part in the elections on Sunday.
After meeting with the first team, Laporta continued his tour of the Ciudad Deportiva, chatted with the Barça B players, especially his coach Javier García Pimienta, visited the players of the women’s team and went to the pavilion to talk with Pau Gasol. who underwent a medical check-up the same Monday after signing with the Barça club