Koeman matches 85-year losing streak as El Clasico highlight's Barcelona's numerous problems
Stefan Bienkowski
- 25 Oct 2021 09:26 BST
- 5 min read
Barcelona’s 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid in Sunday’s El Clasico now means that Ronald Koeman has matched an unenviable losing record that has stood for 85 years.
The Dutch manager has perhaps already cemented his place in the club’s history as the manager that oversaw the departure of Lionel Messi, when the Argentina international left the club for Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.
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Yet Sunday’s defeat to Los Blancos now means that the Barca manager has lost his first three derbies against Madrid, which is the worst record from any Catalan boss since Patrick O’Connell’s pre-war troubles, according to Mundo Deportivo.
While that alone won’t do much to move the dial on Koeman’s popularity with Barca fans, who took to shouting and berating the Dutchman’s car as he left the stadium on Sunday night, it does go some way to defining just how much of a mess the club are in at the moment.
That wasn’t the only problem…
Perhaps the most troubling aspect of Sunday’s defeat was the fact that the worst of it is yet to come.
Following the match, Koeman was forced to answer questions about Ansu Fati and Frenkie de Jong both coming off with injuries during the Spanish derby.
According to reports in Spain, De Jong has been struggling with a thigh strain for some time, while Fati may have flared up another ankle injury on Sunday.
Add to that the continued absence of Pedri, who hasn’t played for Barcelona since late September with muscle injuries, and things aren’t looking promising at all for the Catalan side.
Whether each of the club’s remaining stars is genuinely injured or fear and trepidation has taken hold of the squad remains to be seen, but the Spanish giants are certainly some way of an ideal situation for now.
