In an unexpected move for Barcelona, the president of FC Barcelona on Saturday withdrew reports of the impending dismissal of Ronald Koeman, who said the Dutch coach would remain in office.
"Coman will continue to be Barcelona's coach," Laporta said hours before the Barcelona match, with many Spanish media speculating that this could be Koeman's last game.
"Today, regardless of the outcome, Koeman will still be Barcelona's coach," Laporta told reporters in Madrid. "He has a contract and we hope he can get us back on the road to victory and play the way we want to. I knew he would give it his all. ”
It was Laporta's first public statement since Wednesday's 3-0 loss to Benfica.
Barcelona have failed to shoot right in both Champions League matches and face the threat of missing out on knockout for the first time in 20 years.
Coman himself said on Friday that he believed rumors of his departure were "likely to be true."
The Spanish league at Atlasco is played before the break of the national team match, which will give Barcelona's leaders a transfer window. Spanish media reported that Laporta was considering Javi Hernandez, Andrea Pirlo and Roberto Martinez as possible substitutes.
But, at least so far, Laporta is on the side of the former Barcelona defender. In 1992, LaPorta's last winning goal won Barcelona the first of five European titles, making La Porta's name engraved in the history of the Catalan club.
"We believe he needs our confidence because he is one of us; Koeman resigned as Dutch coach at the start of the 2020-21 season to take over the club, when the institutional chaos eventually led to the resignation of former chairman Josep Bartomeu.
Laporta said: "The club is facing great difficulties, both on the pitch and on the board, and at this time he decided to become the coach of Barcelona." "It's complicated and the results aren't good. But I ask our fans to have faith in our coaches; It's what he deserves and he believes in this team. ”
As a coach, Coman has had to endure the club's financial crisis caused by the mismanagement of Laporta's predecessor and the pandemic. The collapse in income and ballooning debt forced Barcelona to fire Lionel Messi this summer and lay off other players, including Anthony Griezmann.
However, Laporta's relationship with 58-year-old Coman was never ideal. Laporta was actively looking for his replacement in the offseason last season, but ultimately decided to keep him.
One factor that could affect Laporta's insistence on staying with Koeman is that the cash-strapped Laporta will have to face a financial blow as Koeman's contract expires at the end of the season.
Barcelona lost a staggering 481 million euros ($557 million) at the end of the 2020-21 fiscal year, and the payment of severance payments was also terrible. Its salary cap has been cut to 97 million euros ($113 million), about 285 million euros ($334 million) less than a year ago, seven times that of Real Madrid.
Koeman's outspoken approach, which almost never shys away from what he considers to be legitimate criticism of the players and the club, may also be blamed from time to time. On Wednesday, for example, he said that while he felt support from the players, he did not know if the club was still supportive of him.
But Koeman did lead Barcelona to the Copa del Rey title last season and has developed several young players, the most important of which is Spanish midfielder Pedro González. He now insists that the team needs to bring injured players such as Demobélé and Martin Breswaite back and Ansu Fati and Philippe Coutinho, who have recently recovered from injuries, back to full health before they can really judge the potential of the team.
"After talking to him, I saw that he believed in this team, especially when the team has regained its full strength, with healthy players, we need to be competitive," Laporta said. "We haven't been in power for a long time, we need to have a margin of error and we have to treat Koeman the same way."