Barcelona News Roundup: Barca star regrets joining the club, Catalans lose Coutinho to injury and more: 25 October 2020
Barcelona lost the El Clasico last night as Real Madrid won by three goals to one. The morale of the team will take a hit after that loss and to make things worse, there's hardly any positive news going around either.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the top stories involving Barcelona from 25 October 2020.
Ronald Koeman furious with VAR after Clasico defeat
Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman was not in a jolly mood after the Clasico defeat and is furious with VAR for giving Real Madrid a penalty when the score was tied at 1-1. Clement Lenglet was penalized for a shirt pull on Sergio Ramos inside the area.
Ramos converted from the spot to make it 2-1 before Luka Modric got in on the act and sealed the deal with a goal in the 90th minute of the game. In his post-match interview, Ronald Koeman slammed VAR's decision to give Real Madrid a penalty. He said,
“For me, it is not a penalty. I have told the referee that I hope they can explain the issue of VAR to me here in Spain. In five days, the VAR only goes against Barça. He did not enter the penalty from Sevilla to Messi, in the two reds in Getafe, there are several examples. Why is there only VAR against us? I have asked the referee.
“VAR can be very good, but for all teams. Lenglet grabs him by the shirt, but not enough to be a penalty, because there are grabs like that in all the plays in the area. If you pull your shirt forward, you fall forward, not back.”
Philippe Coutinho picks up hamstring injury
Barcelona announced earlier today that midfielder Philippe Coutinho is out for a while with a hamstring injury. It is not clear how bad the injury is or when he will make a return but he will certainly miss the Champions League match against Juventus.
The official statement from Barcelona reads as follows:
Tests on Sunday morning have revealed that Philippe Coutinho has a left biceps femoris (hamstring) injury. Exactly how long that means he will be out of action depends on how the injury evolves
Antoine Griezmann regrets joining Barcelona
According to L'Equipe, Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann, who is going through the worst patch of form in his career, regrets joining the club. Griezmann joined Barcelona in 2019 though he had come close to signing for them in the summer of 2018 before deciding to pull a 180 and staying at Atletico.
Griezmann is currently the second-highest paid player at the club and he cost the Cules a sum of €120 million. However, Griezmann has failed to impress in Barcelona colours even after being fielded in his preferred central role. Now he has fallen out of favour with Ronald Koeman and the future looks rather grim for the Frenchman.