Following the shocking 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals on Friday, Barcelona has fired manager Quique Setien, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Setien joined Barca back in January in what was a surprise appointment, and it didn’t work out. His team was eliminated from the Copa del Rey, lost the La Liga title to Real Madrid and suffered the horrific loss to Bayern. Setien previously had only coached Real Betis and Las Palmas in the Spanish first division.
Barca has not officially announced his departure, but that is only a matter of a formal announcement in the coming days.
“There are some decisions that we had already made, and others that we will make over the next few days. Announcements will be made from next week, we need to make decisions after things have calmed down. Today is a day for reflection. Tomorrow we will try to raise our fans’ spirits following such a heavy defeat,” Barca president Josep Bartomeu said after the game.
“It was a devastating result. I congratulate Bayern, they played a great game and deserved to go to the semi-finals. We were not up to the occasion, and we can only apologize to the members and fans.”
Setien, 61, was seen as a strange appointment when he joined one of the world’s biggest clubs after a poor spell as coach of Real Betis. He became well known in the Spanish ranks for a quality tenure at Las Palmas from 2015 to 2017. Throughout his managerial career of 20 years, he has never won a trophy.
As for what’s next for Barca, it’s all about finding their next coach.
This article was previously published on CBS Sports
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