Ronald Koeman is no longer the coach of FC Barcelona. After the poor performance of the team against Dinamo Kiev and the painful defeat against Real Madrid in the Camp Nou classic, Wednesday night's 1-0 defeat in an away game against Rayo Vallecano, with another disastrous performance, precipitated events shortly after the expedition returned to Barcelona.
Club president Joan Laporta, along with sporting head Rafa Yuste and the sports management met urgently and decided to go through with the move that many fans have been demanding, the sacking of Koeman, who after the duel in Vallecas went as far as to say that Barça had played a good game. Laporta believes that the coach has had enough chances, but that it's now been shown that he is not the right person to lead an increasingly dramatic situation.
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Xavi Hernández, leading candidate
With Koeman dismissed, Barça now has to decide who his replacement will be. The leading candidate, as has been seen for weeks, is the club's former midfield star Xavi Hernández, who, after initial doubts, has already announced that he is able to take on the enormous challenge of taking over the management of the team at the moment. Xavi, the current coach of Al-Sadd, would have no problems in leaving the Qatar club, with whom he maintains an excellent relationship.
In recent hours there has been speculation that Laporta has reconsidered the option of Jordi Cruyff, but this route is practically ruled out, as Cruyff, currently adviser to football director Mateu Alemany, considers that now is not the time.
Until the new coach arrives and officially takes over, the person in charge of directing the first team will be Sergi Barjuan, the current Barça B coach, according to the newspaper Sport.
Joan Laporta, Barça club president / EFE
Barça, dragging its feet in all competitions
Koeman's time as Barça coach comes to an end after having led Barça for just over a season and after 67 official matches. The final tally has been 39 wins, 12 draws and 16 losses. The final curtain came down in Vallecas, with defeat by the Madrid team leaving Barça in ninth place in the League after 10 games played and with only 15 points, just half of those available.
The same goes for the Champions League, in which after 3 games, the team has only 3 points and is third in their group behind Bayern Munich and Benfica.
The only joy of his time as coach of the Catalan team is the Copa del Rey won last season. In the 2020/21 League, Koeman's Barça finished in third place and did not progress beyond the round of 16 in the top European competition.
Main image: Ronald Koeman during a Barça match / EuropaPress