BARCELONA boss Quique Setien will be sacked if he doesn’t win the Champions League, according to reports.
The 61-year-old replaced the popular Ernesto Valverde in January but has struggled to get the team going since.
Barcelona boss Quique Setien will be sacked if he doesn’t win the Champions League
Lionel Messi will try to save Barca’s season by bringing European glory
Barca lost out on the LaLiga title to Real Madrid for the first time since 2016/17 with Lionel Messi blasting his “weak and erratic” teammates.
And if the Catalan giants fail to win the Champions League next month, the Spaniard will be headed to the job centre, according to Spanish outlet Sport.
After Barca lost 2-1 at home to ten-man Osasuna on the last game of the season, Messi also cast doubt over their ability to reach the last eight of the Champions League.
They drew 1-1 at Napoli in the first leg of their last-16 tie before lockdown and have to beat the Italians or draw 0-0 in the home leg on August 8 to progress.
Messi, 33, said: “We didn’t want to end the season like this but it represents how the season has gone.
“We were a very erratic, very weak, low-intensity team. We lost a lot of points and today’s game is a summary of the season.
January until now has been such a terrible time for everybody
Lionel Messi
“We have to be self-critical. Starting with the players but doing a global self-criticism.
“We are Barca and we have to win everything.
“We can’t look at Madrid. Madrid have done their job, but we have helped them a lot.”
Messi added: “If we want to win the Champions League, we have to change a lot. If we continue like this, we will lose the game against Napoli.
“We have to change lots of things. We have a game against Napoli just around the corner and things have to change.”
And the Argentine seem to take particular aim at Setien when he said: “January until now has been such a terrible time for everybody.”
Setien’s contract expires in 2022 but it includes a break clause when club elections take place in 2021.
However, the coach is living his dream as Barca boss and has a very good relationship with the board.
But the Spaniard is said to be aware that the next few weeks could be his last chance to save himself.
At a recent meeting with club heavyweights Eric Abidal and president Josep Maria Bartomeu, Setien remained confident in his abilities but said he would only stay on if the squad accepted the decision.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
