FC Barcelona was completely embarrassed on the pitch this past Friday when they were completely hammered 8-2 by Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of Champions League action in Lisbon, Portugal. As a result, Quique Setien has been relieved of his duties as the team’s head coach, and Eric Abidal was fired as their sporting director.
Setien replaced Ernesto Valverde of Viandar de la Vera, Spain as the FC Barcelona head coach on January 13, 2020. In La Liga in 2019-20, FC Barcelona finished in second place this season with a record of 25 wins, six losses and seven draws for 82 points. However, they did not win the league as they were five points back of the eventual champion, and their biggest rival, Real Msdrid.
Heading into the coronavirus pause on March 12, FC Barcelona was actually leading La Liga, but were beaten by Real Madrid down the stretch. FC Barcelona had to settle for ties against Sevilla, Celta Vigo, and Atletico Madrid, and were beaten 2-1 by Osasuna on July 16.
But it was Champions League play where the wheels completely collapsed. Even with South American superstars Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez in their starting 11, FC Barcelona inexplicably got beaten by Germany’s best by a whopping six goals. Then when rumours have started this week that Messi possibly wanted out of FC Barcelona, it only made sense that Abidal would be let go of his duties as well.
Abidal, who played 67 games as a defender for the French National Team from 2004 to 2013, was obviously in one of the highest scrutinized positions in all of sport from a player-personnel role. He had been the FC Barcelona director since June of 2018.
Now as the UEFA Champions League has its semifinals and finals, FC Barcelona will not be a participant. RB Leipzig and Paris St-Germain are in one semi-final on Tuesday, with Lyon playing Bayern Munich in the other semi-final on Wednesday. The winners will then play in Lisbon on Sunday for the final.
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