Barcelona News Roundup: PSG chief discusses Lionel Messi rumours, Barca star injured yet again and more: 6 December 2020
Barcelona suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Cadiz after looking, ever so briefly, like they were on the way to recovery after a difficult start. Without further ado, let's take a look at the top stories involving Barcelona from 6 December 2020.
Ronald Koeman slams attitude of players after defeat
Barcelona suffered a 2-1 defeat against freshly promoted Cadiz and Ronald Koeman took no prisoners as he criticized his team in the post-match interview. Barcelona are now languishing at seventh on the La Liga table and are 12 points behind league leaders Atletico Madrid.
Koeman said,
"The defeat is difficult to explain. We've come here after some good games, but the first half wasn't good. We were better in the second half, but the way in which we lost was incredible.
"We lost due to an unexpected mistake that you cannot make. It came from not being focused. The attitude wasn't good tonight, and not just from the defenders.
"It's very hard to explain some of the goals that we've conceded. I think it might be because of a lack of concentration. We lack aggression without the ball. That might be why we concede. It's not easy to explain that second goal."
Barcelona confirms Ousmane Dembele out with hamstring injury
Just when you thought that Ousmane Dembele was going to have a decent season, he has picked up a hamstring injury and is now set to be sidelined for quite a while.
Barcelona haven't revealed the seriousness of the injury or just how long a spell Dembele will be out for. This will come as a big blow for Barcelona as Dembele has been one of the better players for them so far this season.
PSG director Leonardo talks down Messi rumours
Lionel Messi's future is one of the hottest topics of debate these days. Recently, Neymar Jr. opened up on his desire to play with Lionel Messi once again and that has sent the rumour mill into overdrive. Neymar was immediately linked with a return to Barcelona while Messi was linked with Paris Saint-Germain as well.
However Paris Saint-Germain director Leonardo has played down the Messi rumours. He said,
He told Canal+ (via Daily Star),
'You know, it's normal for Neymar to say that to an Argentinian journalist. He had to talk about Messi, it's normal. We have to maintain respect for others. He's a Barcelona player. When somebody talks about our players, we are not happy.
'So we don't touch other people's players. Now is not the time to think about the transfer window. We are very happy with the squad we have. We are thinking of our season and the end of the first part of the season, which was very complicated.
'We have to stay focused on our goals such as qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League. And also we gave to think about Ligue 1 and avoid finding ourselves in a complicated situation. Let's keep our focus.'