Barcelona sack coach Ronald Koeman; Xavi front-runner to take over

It
took
less
than
three
months
after
Lionel
Messi’s
departure
for
Koeman
to
finally
succumb
as
the
pressure
kept
increasing
and
the
Catalan
club’s
struggles
continued.

Barcelona
announced
Koeman’s
firing
shortly
after
the
team’s
1-0
loss
at
Rayo
Vallecano
in
the
Spanish
league
on
Wednesday
(October
27).
The
loss
followed
a
2-1
home
loss
to
rival

Real
Madrid
in
the
“clásico”
at
the
Camp
Nou
Stadium
on
Sunday.

Koeman
had
said
in
a
post-match
interview
on
Wednesday
that
he
didn’t
know
if
his
future
with
the
club
was
at
risk.
He
soon
found
out.
Club
president

Joan
Laporta
informed
the
Dutch
coach
of
his
decision
after
the
loss.

Captain
Sergio
Busquets
had
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
said
after
the
match,
before
the
decision
on
Koeman
was
announced.

Koeman
has
been
under
constant
pressure
after
a
poor
start
to
the
team’s
first
season
without
Messi
in
nearly
two
decades.
The
Argentina
star
joined
Paris
Saint-Germain
in
August.

Barcelona
said
Koeman
“will
say
goodbye
to
the
squad
on
Thursday.”

Koeman
leaves
with
the
club
in
ninth
place
in
the
La
Liga
standings
with
15
points
from
10
matches.

Among
the
team’s
five
losses
this
season
were
3-0
results
in
the
Champions
League
against
Bayern
Munich
at
home
and
at
Benfica.

The
loss
to
Rayo
marked
the
team’s
fifth
away
match
without
a
win,
something
that
hadn’t
happened
to
the
club
in
nearly
two
decades.

Barcelona
won
five
matches
and
drew
three
this
season
under
the
Dutch
coach
who
took
over
shortly
after
the
team’s
embarrassing
8-2
loss
to
Bayern
in
the
Champions
League
last
year.
His
only
title
with
the
Catalan
club
was
last
season’s
Copa
del
Rey.

In
total,
Koeman
coached
Barcelona
in
67
matches
in
his
15
months
in
charge,
with
39
wins,
16
losses
and
12
draws.

Barcelona
last
season
finished
third
in
the
league
and
was
eliminated
by
PSG
in
the
quarterfinals
of
the
Champions
league.

Koeman
had
been
publicly
at
odds
with
Laporta,
though
the
club
had
recently
expressed
its
support
for
the
coach,
including
after
he
was
harassed
by
a
small
group
of
fans
outside
the
stadium
after
the
home
loss
to
Madrid
last
weekend.

Koeman
had
also
upset
some
of
his
players
after
saying
Barcelona
would
not
realistically
contend
for
much
this
season
as
it
continued
to
deal
with
serious
financial
difficulties.

The
club
also
lost
Antoine
Griezmann
to
Atlético
Madrid
and
was
relying
mostly
on
youngsters
who
have
been
hastily
promoted
from
its
youth
squads.

The
coach
reportedly
agreed
to
let
go
of
striker
Luis
Suárez
after
he
arrived
in
a
bid
to
help
the
team
financially.
Suárez
went
on
to
help
Atlético
win
the
league
title
last
season.

A
replacement
for
Koeman
was
not
immediately
announced,
but
Spanish
media
reported
former
player
Xavi
Hernández
was
the
front-runner
to
take
over.

The
team’s
next
match
is
Saturday
at
home
against
relegation-threatened
Alavés
in
the
Spanish
league.

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