Barcelona have not had the best start to the La Liga season, and it could just cost head coach Ronald Koeman his job. The Dutchman remains under serious pressure after a disappointing draw against Granada, and the board is reportedly considering his future with the club.
Elsewhere, champions Atletico Madrid – led by Luis Suarez – staged another late comeback to win away at Getafe. And former Atleti star Radamel Falcao continued the fantastic start to his Rayo Vallecano career with a late winner of his own.
Read on below as SBOTOP rounds up the latest news and updates from La Liga.
Ronald Koeman’s Barcelona future looking uncertain
Ronald Koeman’s future at Barcelona is looking far from secure these days. After an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, his Barcelona side needed a late equaliser from centre-back Ronald Araujo to salvage a 1-1 draw at home against Granada.
With that result, Barcelona find themselves in eighth place – six points back of leaders Atletico Madrid – but have two games in hand.
Koeman was criticised for his side’s un-Barca-like style of play. The Catalans sent in 54 crosses – their second-highest tally in a La Liga match in well over a decade – and used Gerard Pique as an emergency forward for the final 20 minutes.
But Koeman pushed back against his critics, pointing out that he was forced to make changes because of all the key absentees in his squad.
“We changed our style a little bit,” Koeman said after the result. “If you see the list of players, what do you do? Play tiki-taka? Tiki-taka when there are no spaces?
“We did what we had to do. We tried to win another way. We don’t have players one-on-one or with speed. We’re talking… I’m not going to say more because it seems I have to argue about everything.”
Koeman added: “We know it’s maybe not Barcelona’s football, but this Barcelona is not that of eight years ago.”
Already weakened by the departure of Lionel Messi, Barcelona were also without Jordi Alba, Pedri, Ansu Fati, Martin Braithwaite, Ousmane Dembele and Sergio Aguero due to injury against Granada.
Koeman declined to discuss his future with the club, but reports suggest the board is already considering parting ways with the Dutch coach.
Belgium coach Roberto Martinez and former Barca great Xavi Hernandez have been linked as potential replacements should Koeman get the sack.
Luis Suarez leads another Atletico late show
Atletico Madrid have done it again. After coming from behind to beat Espanyol 2-1 away from home through to a very late Thomas Lemar goal, they successfully completed another comeback against Getafe thanks to two late goals from Luis Suarez.
Getafe went in front after a header came off the post, then bounced off Atleti keeper Jan Oblak and into the net. However, things turned for the home side when Carles Alena was sent off on 74 minutes for a second yellow card.
Suarez – who has made too many La Liga 2021 highlights the season – equalised just four minutes later, then grabbed the late winner a minute into stoppage time.
The win sends the reigning champions to the top of the table, one point ahead of rivals Real Madrid. Although, they have played one game more. Atleti will be back in action this weekend away to bottom-club Deportivo Alaves, who have lost their first four games.
Radamel Falcao breaks hearts in Bilbao as Rayo score dramatic win
Former Atletico Madrid favourite Radamel Falcao is having a fantastic time in his return to La Liga. The new Rayo Vallecano striker – who spent the last few seasons playing for Turkish giants Galatasaray – came on as a substitute and scored on his debut in their 3-0 win over Getafe on the weekend.
And things got better for the 35-year-old as he scored the winning goal deep in stoppage time to hand Athletic Club their first defeat of the season.
Rayo took the lead after just five minutes through Alvaro Garcia, but Athletic equalised after a Pathe Ciss own goal.
The two sides looked destined for a draw, but Rayo defied the La Liga 2021 betting odds as two of their substitutes – former Manchester United players Falcao and Bebe –combined to score the winning goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
With that win, Falcao and newly promoted Rayo and are now up to fourth place with 10 points, while Athletic Club are in sixth.
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