Barcelona coach, Ronald Koeman, was never the most popular of appointments amongst the Catalan fraternity, and his reaction to the team’s disappointing pre-season defeat at Red Bull Salzburg will arguably see his popularity dip further.
Martin Braithwaite’s 82nd-minute equaliser, after Luka Sucic’s 43rd-minute opener, looked to have ensured that honours would finish even at the Red Bull Arena.
However, a last-minute second from Brenden Aaronson meant that the blaugranes were beaten at the death.
Far from being displeased by the performance of his players, the Dutchman appeared to be completely happy, which isn’t going to endear him to the supporters.
MORE: Liverpool and Spurs want this Brazilian
“It’s the best thing for us because we’re in pre-season but we’ve found an opponent who played with high intensity,” he was quoted as saying by MARCA.
“It was a good session and we’ve had to run a lot.
“Both teams pressed a lot and played at a high tempo. It was perfect, but I don’t like to lose. I’m happy after this week.”
Though Barcelona haven’t been able to call on a number of their first-team stars during the current pre-season, it’s still an incredibly poor effort from one of European football’s most storied teams.
Of course, it’s the results during the season proper that are the ones that really matter, and if Koeman can get his charges up for the fight, they’ll go close.