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Ronald Koeman says Barcelona weren’t good enough as their title ambitions took a “big step back” in Saturday’s 2-1 loss in Cádiz.
Goals from Álvaro Giménez and Álvaro Negredo sentenced Barça to their fourth defeat of the season and their worst start to the campaign since 1987-88.
With just 14 points in his first 10 games, the Blaugrana They are already 12 behind leader Atlético de Madrid, who beat Real Valladolid 2-0 on Saturday.
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“It’s a huge step back in terms of winning the league,” Koeman lamented in his post-match press conference. “It’s disappointing, but you have to accept it, although being 12 points behind a strong team like Atlético is a lot.
“Today’s result is difficult to explain. We received the first goal and we were not good in attack, with too many players in the middle of the field.
“That is not the level I expect from my team. We must improve. We must be more focused. In general, the attitude without the ball was not good.”
Cádiz went ahead after eight minutes when Giménez put the ball over the line after Marc-Andre ter Stegen had saved a bad header from Barça defender Oscar Mingueza.
Pedro Alcalá’s own goal tied Barça in the second half, but Cádiz regained the lead thanks to Negredo five minutes later after a mistake by Clement Lenglet after a throw-in by Jordi Alba.
Ronald Koeman was furious after Barcelona gave away two goals to Cádiz in a 2-1 loss on Saturday. fake images
“Our serve ends in a goal for them,” added an angry Koeman. “It’s our mistake. It’s incredible and you don’t expect it from our team. You can’t concede a goal like that.
“I think it is a lack of concentration. We lack aggressiveness without the ball. That could be the reason. It is not easy to explain how we conceded that second goal. It is very disappointing.”
Barça have fallen behind in six of their 10 league games this season and have failed to win any of them, drawing two and losing the other four.
“It’s worrying to lose so many games,” midfielder Sergio Busquets told reporters. “The more we make mistakes, the further we get from the top, which is where we want to be.
“I think individual mistakes have cost us a lot of points and we cannot continue to give our opponents that initial advantage.
“Once we’re behind, it allows teams to shut up behind and deny us space. It’s not a question of attitude or commitment, but starting games like this makes it that much more difficult.”
Source: espn.co.uk
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