After the fourth defeat from the last six games, FC Barcelona parted ways with their coach Ronald Koeman. The decision was made on Wednesday evening after the 0: 1 at Rayo Vallecano in the Spanish league, the football club announced on its website shortly after midnight. President Joan Laporta informed Koeman. The 58-year-old will say goodbye to the team of ÖFB team player Yusuf Demir on Thursday.
Demir was substituted on in the 60th minute at Barça on Wednesday evening. Previously, there had been rumors in Spanish sports media that Koeman and the club were no longer planning on the 18-year-old Rapid loan. Three days earlier, Barcelona had lost Clásico 1: 2 at home to Real Madrid – David Alaba had made headlines on the Los Blancos side with his goal. The headlines regarding the Catalans were of course different. “Barcelona’s patience with Ronald Koeman has finally been used up,” wrote the Marca newspaper. Initially, the club management did not name a successor.
Spanish media speculated about a commitment from ex-professional Xavi, who has been working for Al-Sadd SC in Qatar since 2019 and is doing his first station as head coach there. He had previously let his professional career end with the club after 17 years in the FC Barcelona jersey.
Koeman resigned from his position as national coach of the Netherlands in the summer of 2020 and moved to Barcelona. He got a two-year contract with the club with which he had won the Champions League and four championship titles as a player. In his debut season, he still came in third in La Liga. In the following year, the first after the departure of superstar Lionel Messi and other superstars, things are not going at all for the Catalans: After ten games, FC Barcelona is ninth in the midfield of the table, far from the Champions League places. In the premier class, the group with the German champions Bayern Munich is threatened with an early end before the knockout phase. The only title in Koeman’s tenure as coach of the Catalans was winning the Copa del Rey last season. In addition to the missed league championship, the Champions League was eliminated in the quarter-finals against Paris Saint-Germain – the club Messi has been playing for since the summer.
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