BARCELONA – Ronald Koeman assured this Saturday that he expects a “very close” final against Athletic Bilbao, revealing that Barcelona is “good and happy to play a final” and left Lionel Messi’s presence in the match on the air, warning that it will depend “on himself, on his feelings after training and how he feels tomorrow”.
The Dutch coach, who can show his record at the helm of Barcelona, considered Athletic’s triumph over Real Madrid as ‘justified’, dismissed all anger at not being able to sign on this winter market and revealed that he had asked the representative of Just to leave the club.
These were Koeman’s most striking statements during the press conference:
MESSI
“Leo trained individually yesterday and today he will do it with the group. We will see if he can make it to the final or not. Ultimately, the player always has the last word and we wait for tomorrow to see how his body reacts, but we hope he can be in the party. “
“For any coach, if you can count 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 then sometimes we miss “.
“We have our system, our game from behind. Of course it determines whether 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 is going to train and tomorrow we talk according to his feelings. “
THE LAST
“I expect a tough match against an opponent who works hard and is very competitive. We have to try to play our game, but it always depends on the opponent. Real recently put a lot of pressure on us and it was difficult to get into the match. to come.”
“In a final there is no need to motivate the players. You have to follow the plan we have and be calm. There is so much desire to win that you don’t have to put more pressure than usual. You know you have a title, but you have to focus on things with ease. ”
“It is an important game because it is a final, it is a title and it serves to show that we are on the right track. The Super Cup is of course not the most important trophy, but in every title you go after your name. it is good in your career as a player or as a coach. “
“Winning is always useful to say that we are on the right track. For our confidence and to show that we have improved things. We have to be very involved because we are going to find an opponent who will put everything on the field. “
“They certainly also analyzed us from the last game, the system … We have to be prepared for a lot of things.”
“To have experience in finals you have to play them. There are young people but also people who have a lot of experience. There is sufficient maturity and experience and that gives 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 motivate especially. You have to be calm and confident and follow the game plan that we have. We have already seen how we fight and there is a lot of desire to win … We do not need ourselves and we need to keep the plan we have lately. “
Athletic’s win against Real Madrid shows that anything is possible in football. It is a demonstration that anything can happen tomorrow. When Athletic is competitive, it can complicate the game. Recently it was effective against Madrid and it deserved a lot of experience “.
MARKET
“The endings? One thing is the young people. I have already said that when we talk about young people, it is important to have minutes and get better. Another thing is Neto. It is true that his rep to be a Asked to exit and we said no because it is important to us and we want all functions well covered ”.
“I have read and heard that I am angry or unhappy because I cannot sign anyone and that is not true. I am okay, happy. I know very well the financial constraints of the club. And if it is not possible, we will continue. with what we have. “