BarcelonaThe nights are extended at the Camp Nou. It usually happens. Mateu Alemany left the offices at 4 in the morning on the day of the closing of the signings, satisfied to have closed in time a very important operation to square the salaries: to send Griezmann to Madrid. Last morning they touched long faces. After yesterday’s disaster against Bayern, much of the board stayed in the box. Joan Laporta, vice-president Rafael Yuste and football director Mateu Alemany left the Camp Nou three hours after the end of the match, after two in the morning. Gerard Piqué also spent a lot of time in the stadium, until 1, although he would not have been present at the meeting.
President Laporta’s entourage admits that he left the Camp Nou very upset. Not so much for the defeat, but for the image of the team. The return of many fans to a Champions League match also served as a thermometer. Koeman was whistled and a banner calling for his removal was seen. The whistle to Sergi Roberto was strong and when Bayern did what the partner wanted he remembered Josep Maria Bartomeu. Laporta, who saw some of his executives face some fans debating what should be done now, knows that the fans are clear that the big culprit for all this is the previous president. But he also knows that he is in charge of finding the solutions to enthuse a fan who left the Camp Nou.
At the meeting, the most talked about was Koeman. Although both the president and the coach spent the hours before the match stating that their relationship is very good, Barça find it very difficult to hide that the Dutchman has never been the first choice of a Laporta who preferred a more offensive coach. The day after the transfer window closed, Laporta had breakfast with some journalists where he hinted that Koeman’s renewal would be linked to a more offensive style. And to recover players like Umtiti and Riqui Puig. The Dutch coach responded through his country’s media saying that Laporta may have “talked too much”, but then they both managed to calm the waters. “We are a pineapple. Koeman is very good and very motivated because he knows that from the club we give him all the support and he has all our respect. We have to look forward, because they sell very complicated matches. I’m sure everything will go well, because we are a pineapple, both in the locker room and in the coaches ’relationships with the board, we all go in the same direction and we are very motivated,” Laporta said. The bad image offered against Bayern, however, again calls into question the figure of Koeman.
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