Before the showdown with Levante, Barca experienced the disappointment of losing 2 matches. It was also Barca’s worst start in the past 32 years. Being 12 points behind Atletico Madrid after the first 12 rounds, coach Koeman once admitted that Barca had almost no chance to win the championship.
But everything changed very quickly in round 13. While Atletico Madrid lost to Real Madrid, and Sociedad was held by Eibar, Barca had a difficult but extremely important victory to shorten the score gap with the top. leader.
In this match, Barca is the dominant ball control team, overwhelming, but has many difficulties in converting the opportunities created into goals. It was not until the 76th minute that superstar Lionel Messi shone with the only goal, bringing a 1-0 victory to the home team.
This result helped Barca get 17 points after 11 matches, temporarily ranked 8th and 9 points behind the leading team Sociedad (but played 13 games). In the middle of the week, Barca will meet Sociedad himself and they have more opportunities to narrow the score gap further.
Speaking after the game, Coach Koeman was very optimistic about Barca’s ability to emulate the La Liga throne. The Dutch strategist said: "We can win this title. If we improve our attacking ability and become more confident in front of goal, the chances are still for us because the tournament is still very strong. many battles ".
Offering protection to Messi when he currently has only 5 goals in La Liga so far, Coach Koeman emphasized: "He is the captain and always shows his talent and assertiveness. Always a superstar and has shown leadership qualities with the decisive goal in this match ".
Explaining the pitching of midfielder Umtiti at the end of the game to play with three midfielders, Coach Koeman stated: "When the opponent moves forward and you need to end the game effectively, you have to come up with a solution. "The most important thing in this match for us is to win. We did it and have more confidence for the next important game."
Match results:
Charts:
