Barcelona decided to replace Ernesto Valverde with Quique Setien
Barcelona shocked the footballing world by replacing Ernesto Valverde with Quique Setien.
Valverde was on borrowed time after some poor performances this season, and the former Athletic Bilbao man was sacked a few days after the Supercopa de Espana exit to Atletico Madrid.
The former manager did help Barcelona to two La Liga crowns, but exits in the Champions League showed how much Barca had fallen.
Liverpool mauled them 4-0 in the second leg of the semi-final last year. That result was tough to believe given that Barcelona came into the game with a 3-0 lead from the first leg.
The team hadn’t been playing great football and it will be interesting to see how Setien does.
The 61-year-old managed Real Betis for the past three years but left the job in May 2019.
The Catalans have been in the shadow of Pep Guardiola ever since he left and they haven’t been able to constantly dominate possession in their games.
Setien’s Betis had an incredible possession record in 2018/19 which was almost as good as Barca’s.
The new manager also picked up a La Liga record for the highest possession since 2013/14 too.
Setien has a lot of work on hand
Barca have depended on Lionel Messi for a long time and Setien needs to get them playing better football.
They are tied with Real Madrid at the top of the table on 40 points.
Further, they have a tough clash in the Champions League with Napoli in the knockout round.
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Setien doesn’t have a lot of time to learn about his team either, and it could be a testing time for club and manager in the coming weeks.