The Barcelona manager realised after the match that he shouldn’t have been so hard on his young defender
Ronald Koeman has admitted his angry reaction to a defensive mistake by Oscar Mingueza on Thursday vs Getafe was “a bit exaggerated”.
When Mingueza pushed up from the back with Barcelona clinging to a 3-2 advantage, Koeman screamed at him from the touchline before subbing him off and refusing to look at him as he walked past. The Blaugranes went on to win 5-2 and move into third place in La Liga.
With time to cool down, Koeman said Mingueza is “having a great season” and claimed the defender’s early exit from the match did not have to do with his lapse.
What has been said?
“Maybe I was a bit exaggerated, because he’s having a great season,” Koeman said of Mingueza. “The youngsters have to learn that with Barcelona you have to always be 100 per cent focused in every game. His substitution had no relation with my anger”.
“[Gerard] Pique’s substitution was planned because he was a little tired after the Copa final. We decided to play with him for 45 minutes”.
La Liga title race
Despite the victory, Barcelona are in a difficult position with seven matches remaining. They sit two points behind Real Madrid and five points behind Atletico Madrid, though they have a game in hand over both sides.
A May 8 clash with Atletico could prove the deciding factor in the title race, however Koeman does not anticipate a winner being crowned before the final matchday.
“I don’t think we are stronger than the other three teams (Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Sevilla),” Koeman told reporters. “Now we will have complicated matches. It will be a fight that will not be decided before the last match”.
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