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Ronald Koeman admitted that the title seems to lie beyond Barcelona this season after they drew 1-1 with lowly Eibar at Camp Nou on Tuesday night.
Barça needed a draw from substitute Ousmane Dembélé after Kike García embarrassed Ronald Araujo to escape and score just before time.
The result leaves Barça sixth in LaLiga, seven points behind an Atlético de Madrid that has two games ahead.
Koeman always knew he was facing some rebuilding work at the club this season, but admitted after the game that his team was not up to speed.
“If I am realistic, the title is very complicated,” he said. ‘Nothing is impossible, but you have to recognize the distance.
“Atlético seems very good to me, very strong. They don’t concede many goals ”.
Martin Braithwaite missed an early penalty as Barcelona missed a string of chances in the match.
“We deserved to win,” Koeman added. ‘We did what we had to do. They only shot at the door once. We created chances, but we didn’t score the penalty and then we made a mistake on defense.
We did enough to win. This is happening many times. ‘
Lionel Messi, the subject of increasing speculation about transfers as his contract progresses, watched from the bench as he healed from an ankle injury, while the absence of other key players also indicated a young Barca team.
“I don’t mean to say that we lack experience,” Koeman added. ‘There is a transition in the team. There are also wounded. We played with young players, today we had five or six, but we also had experience.
“We missed Leo, who makes the difference. But the feeling remains, how do we not win?
“We created a lot of opportunities, we missed a penalty and we gave away a goal.”
Koeman granted Messi an extended break over Christmas to help rehabilitate his ankle, as the forward has just returned to Barcelona from Argentina.
With the forward soon able to speak to other clubs as he moves into the final months of his contract, Messi’s future could come to dominate the conversation in Barcelona in the coming weeks.
“You can’t say that Barça plays better without Messi,” Koeman said. ‘He is on another level. In general we played a good game, but individual mistakes have cost us points ”.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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