Koeman, against the ropes: in ten days the whole season is played

Ronald Koeman finds himself between a rock and a hard place. So far I had been cheating the season, with more or less luck, and even with some green shoots along the way, such as the five consecutive wins in the Champions League or the seven victories in a row in LaLiga, but the current context no longer allows more half measures. The overwhelming defeat against PSG (1-4) in the Champions League first leg and the surprising draw against Cádiz (1-1) in LaLiga, have plunged the team into a worrying catatonic state, which could end with unpredictable consequences in the face to the future, if there is no immediate reaction.

Koeman is aware that the season will be played in the next two weeks. Another setback in LaLiga would be definitive for the team's aspirations for the title. Eight points behind Atlético de Madrid, this week he has the possibility of cutting three points: he plays the postponed match against Elche on Wednesday. A victory would leave the Blaugrana five points behind the leader, although Atlético would have one game less. On Saturday he has one of the most complicated visits in LaLiga when he plays against Sevilla at Sánchez Pizjuán. A defeat or a draw would be almost definitive for the Blaugrana aspirations to win the championship, as well as a mental blow for a group already quite weakened in that regard.

And if in the next two games Barcelona plays being or not being in LaLiga, in the Cup it is literally with the rope around its neck. The 2-0 harvested in the first leg of the semifinals against Sevilla, forces the Blaugrana to pull the epic in search of the comeback on March 3 at the Camp Nou. And if the Cup is complicated, the Champions League is even worse: 1-4 in the first leg of the round of 16 against PSG leaves the return as a mere formality; In the environment there is more directly talk of “competing” than of selling smoke with impossible comebacks.

In this situation, the new president who lands on March 7 at FC Barcelona could find himself a decimated team on all fronts: eliminated from the Cup, with LaLiga almost impossible and with the “brown” of eating the first game of his term in the PSG box.

Among the candidates, today, only Toni Freixa guarantees Koeman's continuity in front of the bench no matter what happens this season. Joan Laporta has already made it very clear that he trusts Koeman, but that the coach's future “will depend on the results and the game”, while Víctor Font arrives with a letter from Xavi Hernández, a person who has always openly expressed his desire to sit on the Blaugrana bench.