FC Barcelona have announced that Quique Setien has been sacked as head coach of the club. Setien’s sacking comes as no real surprise following FC Barcelona’s astonishing Champions League thrashing by Bayern Munich.
Friday’s 8-2 quarter-final defeat in Lisbon made Setien’s position untenable in the eyes of the Barca board.
It brought to an end the 61-year-old’s seven-month reign, with club legend and Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman expected to be his replacement.
“The board of directors has agreed that Quique Setien ceases to be the coach of the first team,” a statement from the club read.
“This is the first decision within the framework of a broad restructuring of the first team, which will be made from the consensus between the current technical secretariat and the new coach, which will be announced in the next few days.”
Barca were crushed by Bayern and the club’s high standards do not allow for such results to pass without repercussions. Setien was already walking a fine line after his side let their narrow lead in LaLiga slip away after the coronavirus-enforced stoppage, allowing Real Madrid to be crowned champions.
The former Real Betis boss held talks with star man Lionel Messi before the final domestic match of the season, and that appeared to ease tensions. Victory over Napoli at the Champions League last-16 stage followed but Bayern always looked sure to pose stiff opposition and were merciless in exposing Barca’s frailties.
Barcelona trailed 4-1 inside 31 minutes, and from that point, the writing was on the wall for Setien. Koeman scored the winning goal in Barca’s maiden European Cup triumph in 1992, his free-kick securing victory over Sampdoria in the final. He served as an assistant at Camp Nou between 1998 and 2000. Setien is also reportedly poised to step down as Netherlands boss, a role which has held since 2018.
