How many times has Ronald Koeman beaten Real Madrid as a coach and player?
The Clasico, one of the most anticipated sports events, is just around the corner. We take a look at Koeman's record against Los Blancos during his career.
The El Clásico clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid takes place on Sunday at Camp Nou and it’s unquestionably one of the highlights of the soccer calendar.
This time though, the collision between these two European giants will be a little different, as the Catalan club is in a sporting and financial crisis and Real Madrid haven't had their most brilliant start of the season, with highly surprising defeats against teams like Sheriff Tiraspol and Espanyol.
FC Barcelona’s manager Ronald Koeman has written off imminent success and has asked for patience, letting the club know that the team has been weakened due to Messi’s departure to PSG and betting on young players that are tipped to become great players in the near future.
How many times has Koeman defeated Los Blancos?
Barcelona are currently sitting seventh in the LaLiga standings, with 15 points from eight games, while their opponents are in the second position with 17 points, three less than leaders Real Sociedad, with one more game played.
Koeman is well aware his men are struggling to win matches, as they suffered to beat Dynamo Kyiv at home 1-0 and have suffered embarrassing defeats to Bayern Munich and Benfica in the Champions League. However, the Dutch coach believes in his squad and stated that “this team can beat Real Madrid”.
Actually, Koeman, who was on the verge of being fired after the start of this campaign, knows what it means to play against Real Madrid as a coach and player.
As a coach, he has faced the 13-time Champions League winners three times. The first of them was when he was in charge of Valencia, who defeated Los Blancos away 2-3 in 2008 in La Liga. Madrid won the title that year while Koeman was fired from Valencia.
Meanwhile, in their last two meetings, the Catalan giants lost 1-3 at Camp Nou in October 2020, with Valverde, Ramos, and Modric scoring for the visitors. And just five months later, Koeman’s squad lost again, this time at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, with the score ending 2-1 for the hosts.
If as a coach he has a 1-2 record against Real as a player the numbers are quite tight, as Koeman faced Madrid 17 times, winning six matches, losing six and drawing five. In those 17 games, he managed to find the back of the net five times.