Ernesto Valverde, who has run out of results, is no longer the FC Barcelona coach. The Catalan club announced Monday evening the dismissal of its technician and the replacement of this one by Quique Setien, who signed a contract until 2022.
Barça will hold a press conference on Tuesday. If the club “publicly expresses its thanks to Ernesto Valverde for his professionalism, his commitment and his positivity”, he decided not to tolerate the team’s procrastination any longer.
After a nightmarish week, Ernesto Valverde (55), already shaken by the disappointments in the Champions League (Roma in 2018, Liverpool in 2019) and criticized by supporters for the lack of brilliance in his game, was finally let go by his leaders. They went to meet ex-Catalan legend Xavi in Doha to offer him his job, but the former midfielder refused.
According to the Catalan sports newspaper El Mundo Deportivo, the leaders of Barça met in the night from Sunday to Monday to discuss the future of Valverde, and the latter met President Josep Maria Bartomeu for almost an hour on Monday, just before the regular meeting of the board of directors, which lasted more than four hours Monday at Camp Nou.
Valverde showed up as scheduled when training resumed on Monday morning, the first after three days of rest for players returning from Saudi Arabia where club blaugrana was eliminated in the semifinals of the Spanish Super Cup by Atlético Madrid (3-2), and led the session normally, we learned from a source close to the club.
In two and a half seasons, Valverde has 66.25% wins at the head of the blaugrana club, with 21.47% draws and 12.26% losses. He won four titles, two Spanish champions, a King’s Cup and a Spanish Super Cup.
His successor will be Enrique “Quique” Setien (61) and former coach of Betis Seville. Former professional midfielder (Santander, Atletico Madrid), the new boss of Camp Nou distinguished himself, as a coach, by “a game of possession, offensive and attractive,” said Barça.
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