A year and then goes away.
FC Barcelona have sacked their Dutch coach Ronald Koeman, the Catalan club announced in a statement on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, after the 1-0 defeat at Rayo Vallecano in La Liga.
FC Barcelona has relieved Ronald Koeman of his duties as first team coach
- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 27, 2021
“FC Barcelona removed Ronald Koeman from his duties as coach of the first team this night,” announced the Catalan club, specifying that President Joan Laporta had already communicated this decision to the coach, after a third defeat in four league matches.
9th in the standings
This decision comes three days after a stinging defeat in the Clasico de Liga against Real Madrid, Sunday at Camp Nou (2-1), while Barça stagnates in 9th place in the Spanish championship and is on the edge. elimination in the Champions League.
Criticized for several weeks, Koeman had already come close to being ousted at the end of September, when Barça had just been corrected 3-0 at Camp Nou by Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Xavi and Pirlo favorites
The Catalan club did not communicate on the name of Koeman's replacement, but a few names had already been put forward in the press in September, when the Dutchman had already come close to leaving. On the front line: Xavi Hernandez. The former Camp Nou glory, now on the bench of Al Sadd in Qatar, has repeatedly claimed he is ready to accept a coaching position at Barca, and appears to be the favorite candidate to take over ... although he supported a different list than President Laporta's in the election for the club's presidency in March.
But other names have also been cited by the press, like the Italian Andrea Pirlo, free since his ouster from Juventus Turin at the end of May, or the Spanish coach of Belgium Roberto Martinez.
In the meantime, the interim could be provided by Sergi Barjuan, the current coach of Barça's reserve team.
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