Defeat too many for Ronald Koeman. Beaten this Wednesday evening by Rayo Vallecano (0-1) as part of the 11th day of La Liga, FC Barcelona has decided to dismiss his coach. The club formalized this decision on Wednesday evening.
Arriving at the club in the summer of 2020, Ronald Koeman finished his first season in third place in La Liga. This season, the Catalan club have won only 4 of their first 10 matches and are in 9th place, six points behind leaders Real Madrid. Difficulties in the league but also in the Champions League since Barça suffered two heavy defeats against Bayern Munich and Benfica Lisbon.
Heckled by supporters after leaving Camp Nou on Sunday after the Clasico, the Dutch technician seemed overwhelmed by the situation. If he has comforted or successfully launched many young people in the first team (Mingueza, Araujo, Pedri, Ilaix Moriba, Gavi …) since his appointment in August 2020, the former boss of the Dream Team had never succeeded. to find the formula to make his team conqueror.
Xavi favorite for succession
At the end of last season and again a few weeks ago, Joan Laporta had long hesitated to fire Ronald Koeman, before changing his mind for lack of a viable alternative in the coaching market and in view of the compensation to be paid to him. (€ 12 million) in the event of dismissal. After seventeen successful seasons on the pitch (1998-2015), Xavi had recently opened the door to a return to Barça (” Any offer is evaluated and then a decision is made. I don’t know where the future will take me, but I am open to all options. »), On the bench this time, as Ronald Koeman’s credit waned. The current Al-Sadd coach is listed as the number one favorite to replace him now.