Koeman: We're not the favourites but have gained confidence

Barca coach Ronald Koeman could win his first trophy this week as his club take part in the Spanish Super Cup. 

“It’s not the most important trophy,” he admitted, but “Barca are made to win and we will give our all. We will play with our best team to try and get to the final.”

There could be some changes though. “There are various players with knocks and one of them is Messi. That’s why we subbed him in Granada. It seems they are all available, Araujo too, although he hasn’t had a preparation session.”

Araujo “worked by himself,” explained Koeman. “We’ll have to see how he reacts after today’s session but I think he will be able to play if he’s 100 per cent.”

Barca still have some areas to improve on, but Koeman says they have taken a step forward.

“The finishing level in attack the other day, we won’t always have that, but defensively the team is better, we have more people arriving in the box from the middle of the pitch. They can do damage. We’ve gained in confidence. The team has improved, it’s not leaving gaps, it plays closer together. The players in wide areas can create a lot of danger for us, they are very important. The difference is that the players are more confident.”

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