Ronald Koeman was relieved of his duties as Barcelona The head coach late Wednesday night following a 1-0 defeat to Rayo Vallecano, placing Blaugrana in ninth place in the table. Champions League Barcelona ranked third in their group after losing their first two games to Bayern Munich and Benfica. Now attention is paid to who will replace Koeman at Camp Nou.
Xavi Hernandez leading candidate for the position of leader Barcelonabut the Catalan club must first agree with Al-sadd To get him out of Qatar, with the 41-year-old under contract until June 30, 2023.
Other names that have been associated with taking responsibility: River plate boss Marcelo Gallardo and Belgium manager Roberto Martinez, while Sergi Barjuan or Albert Capellas will become head coach on a temporary basis until a new coach arrives.
12:00 BST: talks for Xavi
According to Edu Polo of Mundo Deportivo, an agreement between Barcelona and Xavi could be announced soon, but the Catalan club first needs to smooth out his departure from Al Sadd, as well as what kind of staff he will bring to the Camp Nou.
Barcelona are keen to see Xavi lead the team by November 2 when they face Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine. This will be a pivotal match for their exit from the UEFA Champions League group stage. However, Al-Sadd will play at home with Al-Dahayil, their big rival, on November 3, followed by a nearly two-month hiatus due to the Arab Cup, so it is believed he could leave after November 3, but not before.
11:40 BST: Schroeder says goodbye too
According to Moises Llorens, Alfred Schroeder, who was Ronald Koeman’s assistant, was at the Barcelona training base to pack up his things and say goodbye to some of the staff.
11:20 BST: Xavi’s arrival imminent
As reported by Sport’s Toni Juanmarty, Barcelona President Joan Laporta will be meeting with the players at 15:30 BST to announce that Xavi will be the new coach.
11:00 BST: Xavi’s success
Javi lifted his seventh trophy as al-Sadd’s boss just a few days ago when his team beat Al-Rayyan 5-4 on penalties to win the Emir’s Cup.
10:30 BST: Kuman’s record in Barcelona
Koeman has led Barcelona with a total of 67 games, in which he won 40 games, drew 11 and lost 16.
10:00 BST: Koeman says goodbye today
Although Koeman was ordered to play on Wednesday night, today he will say goodbye to the Barcelona players at the club’s training base.