Barcelona boss remains hopeful despite the El Classico defeat

Things did not go according to plan for FC Barcelona last night. After a heartbreaking defeat in El Clasico, the Blaugrana would like to forget this result quickly and continue to move ahead.

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Yesterday Barcelona suffered a 2-1 defeat against their arch-rivals Real Madrid. The significance of this defeat is vital. The Los Blancos secure the prime spot on the La Liga table with last night’s clinical three points. It drags Barca down to third place in the league table.

Atletico Madrid is leading Barcelona by one point with one game in hand. As of now, things are looking quite slippery for the Culers. However, the boss Ronald Koeman remains firm with his belief that this setback won’t be strong enough to hold his team back from challenging for the La Liga title.

Barcelona Boss chooses to remain optimistic

Koeman insists the team be optimistic and mentally recover from the recent loss. There were more than a few positives to take away from the game. Barca registered more shots on target than their opponent. They created 14 chances. Mingueza was the only one who was able to convert one out of them.

"“Of course we’re still upbeat and optimistic because we’ve produced a serious performance. We are fighting. We lost a match against a team who are fighting to win the league but there are nine matches and all the matches are important for the three best teams. It’s difficult for all three of us. We will come back, we will fight until the last match.” – Ronald Koeman told reporters.Source FOTMOB"

Barca attempted to penetrate Real’s defenses, but more often than not only managed to strike the crossbar multiple times. In the second half alone, 12 shots were attempted, in total, of which three were on target. Even during the dying 94th minutes into the game, Barca came inches closer to snatch a point with an equalizer, but Ilaix Moriba unluckily managed to strike the crossbar!

Pique and Koreman could not hide their frustrations post-match concerning the referee’s controversial decision. The denial of a penalty on Martin Braithwaite remained a sensitive topic amongst the Blaugranes. This defeat makes the Dutch manager become the first Barcelona coach, after Joaquim Rife, to lose his first two LaLiga games against Real Madrid since 1980.

Do you think that Barca can realistically overcome the effects of this defeat?