📣 Koeman on Mbappé or Haaland, his future and centre-back issues

Barcelona are looking to get back on track this week as they play Elche in LaLiga.

Here’s what Ronald Koeman had to say at his pre-match press conference.

“We can fight for the league.

“The next two games are very important. We also know we have to go back to play for the Copa del Rey… I don’t think a game is more important than another, we can fight for both competitions.”

“Haaland or Mbappé? That will depend on the new president. We have to focus on ourselves. Important games are coming up.”

“It will be the new president who defines the future of the coach and the team. We have to wait until 8 March.”

“We know there have been games where we’ve made individual mistakes but I don’t think it’s fair to focus on just one player or a particular defender, we’ve also failed in effectiveness.

“The problem is not that we don’t create opportunities, it’s about asking the players in attack for more effectiveness, if you score another goal to make it 2-0 you don’t end up drawing.

“We lack effectiveness, the percentage is low for a team like Barça.”

“I spoke to Lenglet this morning, he’s a great professional and he takes everything very personally. But as I said, we also made a lot of mistakes in attack, we could have made a second goal and with a 2-0 lead, such a play is not so decisive.

“Araújo is getting better but he won’t be there for tomorrow. We’ll see how he is next week.

“Lenglet starting tomorrow? These are decisions that have to be made as a coach. A player has to be convinced, show confidence in himself, and it also depends on the physical condition of the player, not only of Lenglet, but of everyone.”