At the press conference in the run-up to Thursday night’s home game against Getafe, Ronald Koeman was asked about his opinion on the Super League. However, the Barcelona coach considers it wise to keep his opinion on this to himself for a while. Nevertheless, Koeman has already briefly spoken with chairman Joan Laporta, as the Super League is so busy in the football world. Barcelona, one of the founding fathers, has not yet definitively dropped out.
“I talked to the chairman about this yesterday,” said Koeman on Wednesday afternoon during a press conference. “He then explained the situation. Since yesterday (Tuesday, ed.) A lot has changed anyway. Nobody knows what will happen now. I only want the best for Barcelona.” The coach of the Spanish title contender was also quickly finished with the questions about the Super League. “I am not the spokesperson on this and you should contact the chairman for other questions.”
“My job is to prepare the team as well as possible for the match”, Koeman shifts the focus to Thursday’s meeting with Getafe. “There is so much going on at the moment that we better wait until more is clear about the Super League. In any case, the developments do not come as a surprise to me. But again, the chairman can tell more about this,” said Koeman, who does not means whether he had already been informed by Laporta about his participation in the Super League at an earlier stage. “And I don’t know what he told the players either. I’m only interested in tomorrow’s game for the time being.”
Football belongs to the fans. Today more than ever.
– Gerard Piqué (@ 3gerardpique) April 20, 2021
Koeman does agree with Gerard Piqué, who announced via Twitter on Wednesday that football is there for the supporters. “I don’t want to say much about this theme, but I do agree with that tweet,” said the Barcelona coach. The defender clearly distanced himself from the possible arrival of the Super League via social media. “Football is for the fans and more today than ever.” At the press moment, Koeman refers to the discussion that is going on in the Netherlands and Belgium regarding the BeNeLiga. “It’s normal for club presidents to think about the future. However, there are things in football that you shouldn’t want to change.”
The elected lord of Barcelona, just like Pep Guardiola, thinks that the interests of players should come first again. “Guardiola is right when he says the schedule has become overcrowded. Everyone is talking about the Super League and Champions League, but in the meantime UEFA does not listen to the clubs, coaches and players. For UEFA money seems to be the most important thing. Even money. here in Spain there are a lot of matches and it is not ideal to play until 10 pm on Thursday. Above all, the players must be protected “, Koeman concludes.