La Liga: Sergi seeking self-belief from Blaugrana
Memphis Depay scored against AlavesBarcelona's interim head coach Sergi Barjuan says the club's players must start believing in themselves again as they bid to kickstart their faltering season.
Barca drew 1-1 at home to Alaves in La Liga in their first game since Ronald Koeman's sacking and they are now 1000/1 to win the Spanish title and 11/20 to beat hosts Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Barca far from their best
Summer signing Memphis Depay gave Sergi a good start to his first game in charge, putting Barca ahead in the 49th minute, but Alaves equalised within three minutes and the hosts were unable to find a winner at Camp Nou.
The result leaves the Catalan giants on 16 points after winning only four of their first 11 games in Spain's top-flight and they have also made a patchy start to their Champions League campaign.
These players are very good and they have to believe in themselves.
Sergi Barjuan
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Barca lost 3-0 at home to Bayern Munich on matchday one and were beaten by the same scoreline away to Benfica, before grinding out a 1-0 home win over Dynamo on matchday three.
They are not expected to appoint a permanent successor to Koeman before next weekend and striker Sergio Aguero is unlikely to travel to Ukraine after being taken to hospital due to chest pains during Saturday's game.
Self-belief sought by Sergi
Speaking to Marca after the draw with Alaves, former Spain defender Sergi said: "We controlled the game and we were intense in the second half. We had our chances to score and win the game, but we could not take them.
"I have had very little time to work with the players. I have tried to get them in order on both a defensive and an offensive level. But these players are very good and they have to believe in themselves."
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