October 28 – Heavily in debt off the field and in dire crisis on it by their own high standards, Barcelona have sacked head coach Ronald Koeman following their latest defeat Wednesday to Rayo Vallecano.
Three months after Lionel Messi’s shock departure to Paris St Germain and with the pressure mounting on Koeman, whose side lost at home to arch-rivals Real Madrid on Sunday, Barca decided the Dutchman’s time had run out.
Koeman had said in a post-match interview Wednesday’s that he didn’t know if his future with the club was at risk. He soon found out after being told the news by club president Joan Laporta.
Captain Sergio Busquets said Koeman shouldn’t be the only one to blame for the team’s poor performances. “We are all on the same boat,” the midfielder declared before the news on Koeman’s departure was announced.
Koeman leaves with Barca in ninth place in the Spanish league standings with 15 points from 10 matches. Among five defeats this season were 3-0 setbacks in the Champions League against Bayern Munich at home and away at Benfica.
But the loss to Rayo marked the final straw, the team’s fifth away match without a win, something that hadn’t happened in nearly two decades.
Koeman, who took over shortly after the team’s embarrassing 8-2 thrashing by Bayern Munich in the Champions League last year, won the domestic Copa del Rey but leaves after only 15 months in charge.
He enjoyed enormous success as a player at the Nou Camp, winning four LaLiga titles and the European Cup during a trophy-laden spell at the beginning of the 1990s. The lure of returning to his old club proved too strong in August 2020 when he quit his post as Dutch national team boss. But last summer Barcelona were unable to spend any money on new signings, bringing in free transfers and loan deals.
Club legend Xavi, currently manager of Qatari side Al Sadd, is one of the favourites to replace Koeman who made it clear after Wednesday’s latest defeat that he simply didn’t have the means at his disposal to take the club forward any longer.
“The team has lost balance in the squad, lost very effective players, which shows. In recent years other clubs have strengthened every season and we haven’t, which also shows.”
Until any fulltime appointment is made, Barca have put Sergi Barjuan in temporary charge. Barjua currently runs the club’s B team. “His interim position as first-team head coach will end as soon as the club has hired a full-time head coach,” said a statement.
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