Koeman: Riqui Puig must work hard & improve many aspects of his game

Riqui Puig is one of the Barcelona players that has still not had many minutes this season. The situation is not a surprise at this stage because coach Ronald Koeman has made it clear on several occasions he doesn't count on him.

This season that has been clear once again, with youngsters like Gavi and Nico being used ahead of Riqui Puig. In Sunday's press conference, ahead of the Granada game on Monday, Koeman responded to a question about what the midfielder must do to have more minutes.

"He needs to improve in many aspects of his game," he said. "The other day (vs. Bayern) he warmed up, he was a possibility, but in the end had to make the fifth change with Jordi Alba injured. If not, Riqui could have come on.

"But he has to work hard to earn minutes and improve his game, like any young player

Koeman was also asked for updates on Sergio Aguero, who's not yet played for his new club, and Philippe Coutinho, who returned to action as a substitute against Bayern Munich.

"Aguero is working on the pitch with physios, not with us," Koeman said. "He is still a few weeks away, ther is no date yet (for his return).

"Coutinho came on and did well vs. Bayern. He needs more minutes than 25. He could start on Monday, but he's not ready for 90 minutes. We will decide what's best."

With Pedri and Jordi Alba added to the list of injured players, Koeman insisted he has no fear turning to youngsters, such as Gavi and Alejandro Balde.

"I don't have any fear about putting in one or two youngsters from the start," he said. "But to put six in during the moment we're going through isn't good for the youngsters.

"It's always difficult to say when they will have more games. In the end, if it's a player like Pedri, you can't stop starting him... it depends on a lot of things."