The downfall of Koeman
The Barca coach made many errors as his team tried to get victory against Granada at the Camp Nou. Apart from the result, his team's tactical deficiencies have practically sealed his fate.
Despite the club saying that will not rush to make a decision in the coming weeks, the truth is that Ronald Koeman's future at the Camp Nou now hangs by a thread. The coach used up one of his final opportunities against Granada and, despite being unbeaten in the league this season, his numbers in the last few months at the Camp Nou have been very poor.
The Dutch coach, a legend on the pitch, has been unable to replicate that as a Barca coach and has never had the backing of Laporta. He only has him because of the contract Bartomeu signed with him. Laporta is reluctant to dismiss him and the instructions are to reduce spending as much as possible.
Against Granada, Barca were shocking. There is no sign of the team which used to tear opponents part even if they were not playing well themselves. Xavi, Iniesta and Messi, Koeman's great saviour last term, have all gone. Now, most of them are youngsters who do not possess the quality to play for Barca yet. The game against Robert Moreno's men was also Sergio Busquets' worst game for years.
It all went pear shaped for Barca when Domingos Duarte scored. Barca were very poor in the first half and only Sergi Roberto and Araujo were close to equalising in the first half as Barca lacked ideas.
After the interval, Koeman brought on Luuk de Jong. He did nothing and even missed a sitter from a corner in a disastrous performance by him.
With 15 minutes left and Barca pressing, Koeman took off Demir and put on Pique as a striker! It brought back memories of when Cruyff brought on Alexanko.
Barca did not put a cross into the area until the final five minutes of the game, but then did completely the opposite. They kept sending balls into the melting pot for Pique, De Jong and Araujo. The central defenders ended up getting on the end of all the balls. The Uruguayan, who was superb all evening, and not for the first time, gave the Catalans hope when he made it 1-1 in the 90th minute.
The fact just four minutes were added on despite plenty of time being wasted knocked Barca off course a bit although the equaliser did calm an agitated Camp Nou crowd down slightly.
Barca now have two days to recharge their batteries and say Monday night was just an off night, but the trip to Cadiz on Thursday will not be an easy game. It was one of Barca's worst games in the 2020-21 season. Cadiz are expected to play in a similar way to Granada and they will hope to pile even more pressure on the Koeman.