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Barcelona chief Joan Laporta decides Ronald Koeman sack plan amid 'fury' over Bayern loss
Barcelona lost 3-0 to Bayern Munich in their Champions League showdown on Tuesday evening.
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Barcelona chief Joan Laporta is furious with Ronald Koeman after his side’s 3-0 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich, according to reports. And it’s claimed the Dutchman now has three games to save his job. It was another horrendous European night for the La Liga giants, who were outplayed by Julian Nagelsmann’s team at the Nou Camp.
Barcelona went into the match against Bayern Munich hoping to avoid a repeat of last year’s 8-2 humbling.
But, while they did that, the La Liga giants were still put to the sword by their Bundesliga counterparts.
Thomas Muller put the visitors in front in the 34th minute, with Robert Lewandowski then scoring a brace.
It means Barcelona now face a fight to qualify for the next stage, with the club also in a group with Benfica and Dynamo Kiev.
And Catalan newspaper Sport say Laporta has ‘monumental anger’ with Koeman following the disastrous result.
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It’s claimed the Barcelona president ‘blames’ the former Everton and Southampton manager for making them a ‘small team’.
Laporta doesn’t feel happy with Koeman’s tactics and the publication states the Dutchman now has three games to save his job.
This is now the case after a crunch meeting in which Laporta, Rafael Yuste and Mateo Alemany were all present.
Barcelona face Granada on September 20, with a potentially difficult trip to Cadiz then coming three days later.
And if they struggle in both of those matches before then meeting Levante, the writing will be on the wall.
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Barcelona are obviously depleted, having lost Lionel Messi on a free transfer to Paris Saint-Germain back in the summer.
Yet Laporta is feeling ruthless and there’s a sense that Koeman’s time in charge of the club is coming to an end.
Speaking after the defeat, Koeman admitted that Bayern had a better squad than his own in comments that don’t bode well.
"There were only three strikers available," said Koeman after the defeat.
"Tactically there were moments in which we were in control. Bayern's game is in the middle third and you have to fill [the gaps] there.
"It is what it is for the time being. I cannot complain about the attitude, but there is a difference in quality.
"[Bayern are] a team that as a group have been together for a long time and also have a bench that has improved.
"We have many young players who in two or three years will be better. It is very difficult to accept it, but we have to wait for things to improve and players to recover from their injuries.
"It is what it is, we have to spend a few weeks like this because later we are going to get players like [Sergio] Aguero, [Ousmane] Dembele and Ansu Fati back."
And he then added: "There are players who are 19 or 20 years old.
"If you compare them with the players [Bayern Munich] have, there is a difference. In a while, the difference will be smaller.
"We know that Sergi Roberto is not a winger, and playing one-on-one against [Alphonso] Davies is impossible. The fans have been phenomenal because I think they have shown that they understand what was out there today."
Defender Gerard Pique, meanwhile, added: "The result is rough and playing at home, it's a bad result, we can't lie to ourselves.
"It is what it is, right now, we are who we are.”