Barcelona will not sack Ronald Koeman before Atletico Madrid game

Barcelona will not sack Ronald Koeman before this weekend's meeting with Atletico Madrid, but will seriously consider his future during the upcoming international break.

Barça have endured a poor start to the season after experiencing a turbulent summer. They have won just three of their opening six La Liga games as they struggle to cope with financial crisis and the departure of Lionel Messi.

Things have been even worse in the Champions League. On Matchday 1 they were played off the park by Bayern Munich and on Wednesday they fell to their second successive 3-0 defeat in the competition against Benfica.

In the aftermath of that game Koeman admitted that his job security was out of his hands, though he insisted that he still had the backing of his players.

As reported by Sport, that support also remains in the boardroom - for now, at least. Koeman will not be sacked before his side's crunch meeting with La Liga holders Atletico Madrid, with the club set to review his position during the international break that follows.

Defeat to Los Rojiblancos would likely prove to be the final straw for Koeman but he can take solace in the fact that Atleti have not yet got going this season.

90min understands that Barcelona have already devoted significant time to considering the Dutchman's replacement. Top of their wishlist is Xavi but the Al Saad coach has reservations about joining the club when they are in such a dire state.

Roberto Martinez, Brendan Rodgers, Imanol Alguacil, Andrea Pirlo and Erik ten Hag are other options, although Jordi Cruyff has already ruled himself out of the running.

Phillip Cocu - most recently at Derby County - as well as compatriot Giovanni van Bronckhorst are in contention for the role too.