It seems that the blood will not finally reach the river. Both Joan Laporta and Ronald Koeman decided to iron out their differences this Friday, taking advantage of the flight back to Barcelona, in a relaxed talk that lasted approximately twenty minutes, and which had as witnesses the sports vice president, Rafa Yuste, and the football director, Mateu Alemany.
During the meeting, the president and the coach presented their arguments regarding the latest events that had triggered a cross-accusation evenings between one and the other. Laporta made him see that the gesture of the statement was totally unnecessary while Koeman showed his disappointment at the lack of support for his position, especially influencing the systematic leakage of possible candidates to occupy the bench.
Laporta told him that the club cannot control the rumors that they are on the street and that the entity has always maintained that their continuity depends on the game and the results.
In any case, both parties agreed that they had to row together for the good of Barça. Laporta ratified Koeman as his coach and expressed the confidence of the board towards him, regretting, yes, that he cannot sit on the bench this Sunday against Levante. In fact, the issue of expulsion and arbitration decisions was the one that took up the most time at the “summit” between the president and the coach.
So that, It does not seem that there are going to be important news on the FC Barcelona bench, at least until Sunday. And it is that the club does not hide that it is still looking for an alternative to Ronald Koeman. For now, two names are the top candidates to replace the Dutchman in the event that the club decides to dismiss him: Xavi Hernández and Robert Martínez.