Kounde insists Barcelona crashing out of European competition is not a failure of the club but admits they are disappointed.
Barcelona defender Kounde believes that the club suffered from significant casualties which led to their exit both in the Champions League and in the Europa League as the Frenchman does not believe that one can speak of failure because of the way the team has competed.
The La Liga league leader exited the Champions League and played a play off against Manchester United but jeopardize their chance of moving to the Europa League round of 16.
Despite scoring first in both the first and away tie the Catalan lost on 4-3 aggregate against Erik Ten Hag’s men in the second leg at Old Trafford.
Speaking after the game Kounde said: “I think we’ve had a lot of casualties in the Champions League and the rivals are stronger. This should help us learn. We have to go one step further and I’m sure we’ll do it next year.
“I think this is not a failure because of how we have competed. We are playing against a very fit opponent. We are a young squad and we must continue to grow.
“I think we also have to give credit to our rival, who put in one more gear in the second half. It was difficult for us. We have struggled, it is true that there is a lot of disappointment. I am sorry for the fans that came today and for the group because the goal was to win the Europa League.
“This elimination is very painful. We had a good first half and in the second half we conceded too quickly. We lost control after the draw. We are very disappointed.”
Barcelona will be back in action in the La Liga when they travel away to Almeria on Sunday as they will seek to icrease their points on the League table.
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