"If you are a Barcelona fan, you should be heated up and unhappy with the two decisions from the referee. In the second half, there was a clear penalty," Ronald Koeman said after the Real Madrid clash.
"Then, one time, we have to accept it and move forward. I've said what I think If there was a penalty given, it would've been 2-2. I don't know why there is VAR in Spain. You have a referee, a linesman, a fourth referee, VAR, and everyone thinks it's a penalty [except for them].
"You saw the play. Was it a penalty or not?" the coach then proceeded to ask the reporter.
The journalist responded by saying that it was up to the referee to make the decision. Hearing him trying to evade the question, Koeman simply left the interview.
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Messi 5.5, Dest 2: rating Barcelona players in Real Madrid loss
- Oscar Mingueza — 6
The young centre-back did score a goal, but in terms of defence, Mingueza was far from his best. Oscar had a great short spell while playing at right-back, too bad Ronald Koeman quickly switched him back to the centre.
- Leo Messi — 5.5
The Argentine tried to do a lot of work offensively today, but found little support and couldn't take advantage of his own chances. Unfortunately, Messi failed to convert the few set pieces he had which could have really put us back into the game.
- Pedri — 4
The youngster looked a bit lost in the first half, committing stupid errors and fouls. In the second half, Pedri almost disappeared completely: no sharp passes, no good runs, only a few smart recoveries but that was it.
- Jordi Alba — 3
The full-back got too easily outplayed early in the first half which ended up in Barcelona conceding the first goal. Throughout the match, Alba wasn't too useful either, and his attacking contribution was far below his usual level, although he did assist Mingueza.
- Sergino Dest — 2
The right-back got completely outplayed in the first 45 minutes and it was no surprise that the coach took him off at half time. It's hard to name a single right move from Dest in the Clasico.
Others: Ter Stegen — 3, Araujo — 3.5, Lenglet — 4, Busquets — 3.5, De Jong — 6, Dembele — 3, Griezmann — 5, Braithwaite — 4, Ilaix — 5, Roberto — 4, Trincao — 4.
Leo Messi equals Sergio Ramos as player with most Clasico appearances in history
By starting in Barcelona's away match against Real Madrid, Leo Messi has equalled Sergio Ramos as the player with the most appearances in El Clasico history, with both players featuring 45 times.
The Blanco captain won't play the match as he's out with an injury.
In his 44 previous matches against Madrid, Messi recorded 26 goals and 14 assists, as per Transfermarkt. The Argentine has so far won 19 Clasicos and lost 14, while 11 matches ended in draws
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