The Blaugrana head coach was satisfied with his side’s performance in Wednesday’s pre-season friendly, but not so much with the result.
Ronald Koeman insists he “doesn’t like to lose” after FC Barcelona surrendered to Red Bull Salzburg 2-1.
Barcelona were far from their best against an intense and physical Salzburg side despite their relatively strong line-up containing the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Memphis Depay, Frenkie de Jong, and Sergio Busquets.
It appeared the two teams were going to settle for a draw, with the scoreline tied at 1-1 until the dying moments of the match, but Brendon Aaronson struck at minute 90 to seal a narrow victory for the Austrian Bundesliga outfit.
“It’s the best thing for us because we’re in pre-season but we’ve found an opponent who played with high intensity,” Koeman said post-match, per 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.”
Koeman deviated from his usual 4-3-3 system and opted for a 3-5-2 system. Despite the formation not getting the desired result, the Dutchman believes it showed promise.
“It’s important to change system. I think this gave us a lot last season, and all of the data tells us that this was our best formation,” he added.
“We have to be able to go back to it and to change in the middle of a game. That isn’t to say that it will be our regular setup.”
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