"It's not normal that three penalties in six games have not been awarded"

The Barcelona coach, currently in hot water because of Barcelona's loss to newly promoted Granada, complained about his team's defensive failings, but also made sure to criticize some of the referee's decisions. "It's not normal that three penalties have not been awarded in our favour in six games. It is also not normal that we didn't manage to keep a clean sheet against Valencia or Betis at home with two goals each," said a frustrated Valverde. 

But Valverde's comments did not stop there. The Catalan giants currently stand as the team that has conceded the most goals in the entire Spanish First Division as it stands. "That statistic should be taken with a grain of salt. Borussia Dortmund created the most chances against us, and they didn't score," he said.

He also spoke about Griezmann, who, as some fear, is going through a particularly bad spell. "He has played as a centre forward and on the side. The truth is that we are not having very good attacking juice away from home. But it's not about him or another player, it's a global issue. Forwards have to come into play, we have to improve our attacking play away from home," he said.

The Barcelona coach also spoke about the squad list ahead of their LaLiga clash against Villarreal. The main novelty is Dembele, who has received his medical discharge after fully recovering and could be available for Tuesday. 

The Frenchman could provide the attacking push Barcelona are needing, and Valverde is hopeful it will indeed be the case: "He's makes rivals lose their balance, we expect a lot from him, to show in the field the talent he has".

Valverde's decision to leave Rakitic out of the squad also raised some eyebrows.  "You always ask me about those who aren't there. If he's not there, it's because another one comes in. He is not injured. It's a question of players, we have many in the midfield," he said. Rakitic's place in the squad is occupied by Aleña: "He trains well, with the others, but we have a lot of players."

Ernesto Valverde is not worried about his job situation. "We coaches are always playing each other in every game. There is a great demand for all of us and for even more for Barça. I know that for someone in my position what they ask for is to deliver the results and if you don't, the coach is in the spotlight," he tried to explain. 

Aditionally, Valverde wanted to confirm the presence of two of the youth academy products in the squad. "Carles Perez will remain in the first team, just like Ansu. They are with us".