After two and a half seasons at the helm of FC Barcelona, former head coach Ernesto Valverde has been dismissed as the top man for the Cules.

Replacing him will be long-time Spanish manager Quique Setien.

Valverde took over Barcelona after Luis Enrique’s resignation following the 2016-17 season and had a tenure that was mixed with domination and disappointment with the Catalan club.

Valverde’s teams won both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 La Liga titles, winning in runaway fashion both seasons. In addition, Barcelona won the 2018 edition of the Copa del Rey and reached the final of last year’s competition before falling in the final to Valencia.

However, disappointing exits at the hands of Roma and Liverpool in the knockout stages of the Champions League frustrated fans that couldn’t figure out why his team couldn’t do more. Barcelona’s slow start to 2019-20, which finds them tied with Real Madrid at the top of La Liga, ended up condemning him.

Setien, the former manager of Las Palmas and Real Betis, will take over as Barcelona’s head coach immediately. While he has no past relationship with the Catalonian giants, he is a disciple of wildly popular former Barcelona coach Johan Cryuff.

Setien has signed a contract through 2022, and will make his debut on the Barça bench against Granada on Sunday.

The post Barcelona Sacks Manager Ernesto Valverde, Hires Quique Setien appeared first on SportzBonanza.

According to multiple Spanish media reports, FC Barcelona head coach Ernesto Valverde will be retained by the team for the 2019-20 season despite another disappointing end to this year’s campaign.

Valverde, who became Barcelona’s head coach in the summer of 2017, was heavily criticized by many factions of Barcelona’s fanbase after the Catalonian giants blew a 3-0 lead in their Champions League semi-final tie against Liverpool.

To put the cherry on top, Barcelona ceased to play with intensity after their disappointing defeat and followed up with a 2-1 loss against Valencia in the semi-final of the Copa del Rey.

Despite his lack of Champions League success and the bitter end to this season for Barça, club president Josep Bartolomeu has decided to stick with the veteran coach in hopes of a better outcome in 2019-20.

A couple of factors weighed in when making this decision. For one, Valverde has comfortably led Barcelona to 2 consecutive La Liga titles and also won last year’s Copa del Rey.

It also appears to have been important that Leo Messi gave his vote of confidence to Valverde in a press conference last week.

For these reasons, Barcelona will stick with Valverde for the time being. Time will tell if he is able to retain his gig for long, but the Barcelona board is at least willing to give him one more chance.

The post Barcelona Decides to Retain Head Coach Ernesto Valverde appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Following Barcelona’ shocking elimination in UEFA Champions League semi-finals, reports started circling that the team is considering firing their manager Ernesto Valverde. It seems like that won’t be the case, however, as Barca’s president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, recently confirmed that Valverde will remain at the helm in next season as well.

Although Barcelona is playing great in La Liga, the team can’t make it over the hump in Champions League under Valverde. In his first season with the team, Barca was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the competition by AS Roma although they have won the first match with 4-1. A similar thing happened this year, since Barcelona won the first game against Liverpool 3-0, only to suffer a 4-0 loss in the second one.

Despite this, Valverde will likely get a third chance next season as Bartomeu says he is the manager that the club wants.

“Valverde already said the other day in a press conference that he has the support of the president and the board,” – Bartomeu told reporters on Thursday. “He is the manager we want.”

“We renewed him recently. We know that the projects are not short-term. Projects are for medium and long-term,” – he added.

Ernesto Valverde joined Barcelona in 2017, replacing Luis Enrique as the team’s manager. Although his reign kicked off with a loss to their bitter rivals Real Madrid in Spanish Supercup, Valverde managed to bounce back and led the team to both La Liga and Copa Del Rey trophies in his first season. Barca will finish this season at the top of national competition this season as well while having the chance to claim a double title in the Copa Del Rey final match against Valencia.

The post Ernesto Valverde to Remain Barcelona’s Manager Says Club’s President appeared first on SportzBonanza.

After two and a half seasons at the helm of FC Barcelona, former head coach Ernesto Valverde has been dismissed as the top man for the Cules.

Replacing him will be long-time Spanish manager Quique Setien.

Valverde took over Barcelona after Luis Enrique’s resignation following the 2016-17 season and had a tenure that was mixed with domination and disappointment with the Catalan club.

Valverde’s teams won both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 La Liga titles, winning in runaway fashion both seasons. In addition, Barcelona won the 2018 edition of the Copa del Rey and reached the final of last year’s competition before falling in the final to Valencia.

However, disappointing exits at the hands of Roma and Liverpool in the knockout stages of the Champions League frustrated fans that couldn’t figure out why his team couldn’t do more. Barcelona’s slow start to 2019-20, which finds them tied with Real Madrid at the top of La Liga, ended up condemning him.

Setien, the former manager of Las Palmas and Real Betis, will take over as Barcelona’s head coach immediately. While he has no past relationship with the Catalonian giants, he is a disciple of wildly popular former Barcelona coach Johan Cryuff.

Setien has signed a contract through 2022, and will make his debut on the Barça bench against Granada on Sunday.

The post Barcelona Sacks Manager Ernesto Valverde, Hires Quique Setien appeared first on SportzBonanza.

According to multiple Spanish media reports, FC Barcelona head coach Ernesto Valverde will be retained by the team for the 2019-20 season despite another disappointing end to this year’s campaign.

Valverde, who became Barcelona’s head coach in the summer of 2017, was heavily criticized by many factions of Barcelona’s fanbase after the Catalonian giants blew a 3-0 lead in their Champions League semi-final tie against Liverpool.

To put the cherry on top, Barcelona ceased to play with intensity after their disappointing defeat and followed up with a 2-1 loss against Valencia in the semi-final of the Copa del Rey.

Despite his lack of Champions League success and the bitter end to this season for Barça, club president Josep Bartolomeu has decided to stick with the veteran coach in hopes of a better outcome in 2019-20.

A couple of factors weighed in when making this decision. For one, Valverde has comfortably led Barcelona to 2 consecutive La Liga titles and also won last year’s Copa del Rey.

It also appears to have been important that Leo Messi gave his vote of confidence to Valverde in a press conference last week.

For these reasons, Barcelona will stick with Valverde for the time being. Time will tell if he is able to retain his gig for long, but the Barcelona board is at least willing to give him one more chance.

The post Barcelona Decides to Retain Head Coach Ernesto Valverde appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Following Barcelona’ shocking elimination in UEFA Champions League semi-finals, reports started circling that the team is considering firing their manager Ernesto Valverde. It seems like that won’t be the case, however, as Barca’s president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, recently confirmed that Valverde will remain at the helm in next season as well.

Although Barcelona is playing great in La Liga, the team can’t make it over the hump in Champions League under Valverde. In his first season with the team, Barca was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the competition by AS Roma although they have won the first match with 4-1. A similar thing happened this year, since Barcelona won the first game against Liverpool 3-0, only to suffer a 4-0 loss in the second one.

Despite this, Valverde will likely get a third chance next season as Bartomeu says he is the manager that the club wants.

“Valverde already said the other day in a press conference that he has the support of the president and the board,” – Bartomeu told reporters on Thursday. “He is the manager we want.”

“We renewed him recently. We know that the projects are not short-term. Projects are for medium and long-term,” – he added.

Ernesto Valverde joined Barcelona in 2017, replacing Luis Enrique as the team’s manager. Although his reign kicked off with a loss to their bitter rivals Real Madrid in Spanish Supercup, Valverde managed to bounce back and led the team to both La Liga and Copa Del Rey trophies in his first season. Barca will finish this season at the top of national competition this season as well while having the chance to claim a double title in the Copa Del Rey final match against Valencia.

The post Ernesto Valverde to Remain Barcelona’s Manager Says Club’s President appeared first on SportzBonanza.