Pep Guardiola believes Ronald Koeman "needs a little more time" to get Barcelona playing the way he wants as the first Clasico of the season looms this weekend.
There was a time when Guardiola and Koeman were team-mates and room-mates for away trips with Barcelona, going their separate ways in 1995 when Koeman left for Feyenoord,
They are said to have remained close and Guardiola wants Koeman to turn Barcelona back into a winning machine in Spain after the turbulence of the 2019-20 season.
On Saturday, Koeman will take charge of his first Clasico as a head coach, making him the seventh Dutch boss to lead Barcelona into the prestigious LaLiga fixture.
Of those six Dutchmen who have preceded him, only Louis van Gaal was able to win his first Clasico - a 3-2 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu in 1997, for which captain Guardiola was absent through injury.
An early season stumble from Barcelona has seen them fail to win either of their last two LaLiga games, drawing 1-1 with Sevilla before losing 1-0 to Getafe last weekend.
