Ronald Koeman, keeping pace with Luis Enrique's record
The Dutch coach and his team have started 2021 like a house on fire
Ronald Koeman’s Barcelona started La Liga in a bad place after that Bayern battering last season. It filled their backpack with rocks which they have been throwing out along the way, one by one. In the first 10 weeks they had four defeats and two draws, bad numbers. There was a lot of work to do, but that was nothing Koeman did not know before returning to his home, Camp Nou.
The Dutchman has found it hard to find the best tactical set up with a squad hit by injury and also because of the profile of the players. After weeks and weeks of trial and error, Barcelona are trying to maintain speed as they set sights on the double.
Their reaction in recent weeks was not enough to help them in Europe but they are in the cup final and can take Atletico Madrid to the wire if they beat Huesca on Monday.
After losing against Cadiz, their last league defeat, there were five games to go in 2020. They won three and drew with Valencia and Eibar. “La Liga is very tough,” said Koeman. But with the new year bells, something changed.
In 2021 they have been excellent, winning 10 games of 11 in La Liga, drawing only with Cadiz (them again). There is only one precedent in recent years. Luis Enrique’s Barca in 2015-16, a year after winning the treble, took Barca to 10 wins and a draw.
Koeman’s challenge now is to go one better. Lucho managed 14 games unbeaten with two draws. They were in the first game of the year, against Espanyol and the last game of the run, 2-2 against Villarreal. After that came three consecutive defeats. Barcelona need three wins in a row now to get their best ever start to a calendar year in La Liga. If they give up one draw it will equal that of 15-16.
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