Ailing FC Barcelona has now lost for the first time this season in the Spanish league without their suspended coach Ronald Koeman on the sidelines. In the top game at champions Atletico Madrid, Barca conceded a 0-2 (0-2) defeat on Saturday evening.
Thomas Lemar (23rd) and former Barca professional Luis Suarez (44th) scored for the hosts. While the Koeman team fell out of the international ranks again after three wins and three draws, Atletico are tied with leaders Real Madrid for at least one night.
Koeman, who saw red in the 0-0 draw at Cadiz FC after a dispute with the fourth official, had to watch Atletico’s lead from a box in the stands. Lemar refined Suarez’s preparatory work after a great combination. The 2: 0 shortly before the break came from a co-production of the duo Lemar / Suarez – this time in reverse order. The German national goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen had no chance again. In the second half, coach Diego Simeone’s team managed their lead skillfully, and Barca missed their few good chances.
A few hours before the game, Barca’s club president Joan Laporta had backed Koeman: “Regardless of today’s result, Koeman will remain our coach,” Laporta said in an interview with Spanish media.
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