Koeman responds to 'kit man' comment from Real Betis' Joaquin

Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman didn't want to stoop to Joaquin's level on Friday when asked about his relationship with the former Spain winger on. 

Joaquin played under Koeman at Valencia over a decade ago but the two didn't get on. The now Real Betis forward said that he would not shake the Dutchman's hand when his side face Barça on Saturday. He also said he wouldn't even take Koeman as the kit man at Betis. 

"I understand it's very interesting for you lot (the press) but I won't get involved," Koeman said. "If he wants to speak more, that's his problem. I am focused on the game, not on individual things or stuff that happened many years ago, although we know that Joaquin is a good talker." 

Speaking to Cadena Ser this week, Joaquin said: "It wasn't the best experience of my career (playing for Koeman). It wasn't an enjoyable experience, but as I always say: you have to go through everything and that was what it was at that moment. I don't want to speak more about it because, honestly, it hurts me what happened there, I had a really tough time." 

Asked if he would appoint Koeman as Betis coach, Joaquin was stern: "Not even as the kit man. I have turned the page. We said it all. Fortunately, it didn't last long and we were able to save the season in the most worthy way possible because it was a difficult year." 

During his spell at Valencia, Koeman tried to remove Joaquin from the first team dynamic along with Cañizares, Albelda and Angulo due to a request from the club's president at the time.

On the Betis game at Camp Nou this weekend, Koeman added: "All games are important, it doesn't depend on the situation we're in. It is a game at home against a side playing good football.

"It's a tough game, we will have to play well, above all in errors made the other day vs. Kyiv. Defensively we have to be more focused, more organised. We worked on that this morning to improve, correct things and we are prepared."