Laporta says Koeman will keep job as Barcelona coach

By JOSEPH WILSON
Associated Press

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona’s club president has quashed reports of the imminent firing of Ronald Koeman. Joan Laporta said “Koeman will continue being the coach of Barcelona” regardless of the outcome of Barcelona’s Spanish league match at Atlético Madrid on Saturday. Barcelona later lost that match 2-0. This was the first public statement Laporta has made since a bitter 3-0 loss at Benfica on Wednesday sparked various reports that Koeman’s days were numbered. Barcelona has lost both its Champions League matches and is under threat of failing to qualify for the knockout rounds for the first time in 20 years. Koeman himself said on Friday that he imagined that the rumors of his exit were “probably true.”