Ronald Koeman blamed his team’s poor start for Tuesday’s 3-0 loss to Juventus and said his team played fearfully and without aggression.
Barça lost 2-0 in just 20 minutes thanks to a contentious penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo and a good volley from Weston McKennie.
The Catalan giants could not find a way to return to the game and awarded a second penalty after the break after a hand from Clement Lenglet.
The result puts more pressure on Koeman as his team continues to fight, and the Dutch manager offered his thoughts after the match.
“The defeat comes in the first 30 minutes. We started badly, with fear, without aggressiveness. It seemed that we had entered the game not to lose rather than trying to control it. Juve pushed a lot, we had no control, defensively we were not good. We improved a lot in the second half. We lost the game in the first half hour.
“As a coach, I try to prepare for the game, prepare the team, how it has to go. Before the game, we talked about being compact, but to achieve this you must win your individual battles. We leave a lot of space between the lines … and you can also discuss (Juventus) penalties ”.
Source | Sport
Barça now face a four-game La Liga streak in just 10 days starting Sunday at home to Levante. Real Sociedad and Valencia then remain at Camp Nou before Barça take on Real Valladolid on December 22.
