BARCELONA – Ronald Koeman said on Saturday that he expects a “very even” final against Athletic Bilbao, revealed that Barcelona are “good and happy to play a final” and left the presence of Lionel Messi in the air in the match, warning that he will depend “on himself, on his sensations after training and on how he is tomorrow”.
The Dutch coach, who can debut his title record at the Barcelona front, considered Athletic’s victory over Real Madrid “fair”, rejected any anger at not being able to sign in this market of winter and has revealed that he rejected the net representative’s request to leave the club.
These were Koeman’s most prominent phrases at the press conference:
MESSI
“Leo trained individually yesterday and today he will do it with the group. We will see if it can be in the final or not. In the end the last word always has the same player and we will wait until tomorrow, to see how his body reacts but we hope he can be in the game. “
“For any coach, if you can count on the best, he always gives you more options to win. We are talking about the number one in the world and if he is not we are missing something. With Leo the team is stronger footballingly, with its creativity and effectiveness that we sometimes lack. “
“We have our system, our game from behind. Of course it conditions if it’s Leo, because we’re talking about the best in the world. All players have to be one hundred percent because he’s not the last “Many more will come later. Messi will train and tomorrow we will talk according to his feelings.”
THE FINAL
“I expect a complicated match against a rival who works hard and is very competitive. We have to try to make our game, but it always depends on the opposite. The other day Real pressed us well and it was difficult to get into the game. “.
“In a final you don’t have to motivate the players. You have to follow the plan we have and be calm. There is so much desire to win that you don’t have to put more pressure than normal. You know you can win a title but you have to focus on things calmly “.
“It’s an important match because it’s a final, it’s a title and it serves to show that we’re on the right track. The Super Cup is not the most important trophy, of course, but in every title you put behind your name it’s good in your career, as a player or as a coach “.
“Winning is always good to say we are on the right track. For our confidence and to show that we have improved things. We have to be very focused because we will find an opponent who will put everything on the field.”
“Surely they have also analyzed us from the last game, from the system … We have to be prepared in many things.”
“To have experience in the finals you have to play them. There are young people but also people who have a lot of experience. There is enough maturity and experience and that gives us peace of mind. Young people have to learn and for that they have to play the games. finals “.
“For a Super Cup final you don’t have to be particularly motivated. You have to be calm, confident and follow the game plan we have. We’ve already seen how we’re fighting and there’s a lot of desire to win … We don’t have to press and we have to keep going the plan we have lately “.
“Athletic’s victory against Real Madrid shows that anything is possible in football. It’s a demonstration that anything can happen tomorrow. If Athletic is competitive it can complicate the game for you. The other day it was effective. against Madrid and he deserved to go through a lot of things. “
MARKET
“Outings? It’s one thing for young people. I’ve already said that when we talk about young people it’s important to have minutes and get better. Another thing is Net. It’s true that their representative has asked for an outing and we said no because it’s important. for us and we want to have all the positions well covered “.
“I’ve read and heard that I’m angry or unhappy about not being able to sign anyone and it’s not true. I’m fine, happy. I know perfectly well the financial limitations of the club. And if that’s not possible, we’ll move on with what we have.”