Will there be a 'major surgery' at Camp Nou?
(Baonghean.vn) - Although there is still a final match with Valencia in the King's Cup, it can be affirmed that coach Valverde and his team have had a failed season.
Missed appointment with Champions League
Entering this season, the Barcelona Board of Directors ordered coach Valverde and his team to win the most prestigious European club tournament. This is completely understandable because over the past 3 seasons, Barcelona and their fans have had to watch their rivals Real Madrid continuously lift the silver cup of the tournament.
After the 2-1 victory over Sevilla in the Spanish Super Cup, superstar Messi said: "Last season was really good when we won the domestic double, but it still feels bad to be eliminated early from the Champions League. We promise that this season we will do everything to bring the trophy to Camp Nou."
Unfortunately, the promise of Messi and his teammates did not come true. Barcelona only advanced to the semi-finals and were bitterly eliminated by Liverpool.
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| Barcelona won the championship in the 2014/2015 season. Photo: talksport.com |
Obviously, the Barcelona Board of Directors and the Cules (the nickname of Barcelona fans) cannot be satisfied with coach Valverde and his team. The domestic double (in the case of the Camp Nou team defeating Valencia in the final of the King's Cup) still cannot bring a successful tournament for the Catalan team.
Thus, “failure” is the two words used to conclude Barcelona’s 2018/2019 season. Simply put, Messi and his teammates could not quench the “thirst” in the Champions League that has lasted for the team’s fourth year. The person who must bear the greatest responsibility is none other than coach Valverde.
A major surgery at Camp Nou?
As the “leader”, coach Valverde will find it difficult to avoid being “involved” in Barcelona’s failure in the Champions League this season. The championships in La Liga and the King’s Cup are not enough to meet the expectations of the Barcelona Board of Directors and the Cules for the strategist born in 1964. It is likely that after the 2018/2019 season ends, coach Valverde will have to accept the decision to be fired, even though his contract was just renewed a few months ago.
For an ambitious team like Barcelona, the outcome that coach Valverde is about to face is completely normal. It is true that under the guidance of the former Bilbao captain, the "Catalan giant" is "making waves" in the domestic arena. Unfortunately, in the Champions League arena, coach Valverde failed to prove his mettle at important moments. Barcelona was eliminated by AS Roma and Liverpool, the 55-year-old captain is largely to blame.
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| Coach Valverde finds it difficult to stay at Camp Nou. Photo: sportskeeda.com |
According to information appearing in the Spanish press, Barcelona's Board of Directors has considered the option of terminating the contract with coach Valverde ahead of schedule. The two strong candidates targeted by the Camp Nou team are the current head coach of the Netherlands national team Ronald Koeman and Ajax Amsterdam coach Erik ten Hag. It seems that the risk of coach Valverde being "fired" is not small.
Certainly, coach Valverde is not the only case leaving Camp Nou after the end of this season. Faces such as Coutinho, Rakitic, Umtiti, Cillessen, Malcom, Vermaelen, Rafinha, Boateng, Murillo, Tobido... will likely be liquidated by Barcelona in different ways, because they do not meet professional requirements or are no longer in the team's plans.
When someone goes, someone comes. Currently, Barcelona has signed midfielder Frenkie de Jong from Ajax Amsterdam. Not stopping there, in the upcoming summer transfer window, Barcelona's Board of Directors will bring in many "star" players. Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax Amsterdam), Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Mbappe (Monaco), Jovic (Frankfurt)... are Barcelona's top targets in the plan to strengthen the team in the new season.
The coming summer days are full of events at Camp Nou, where farewells and reunions will be witnessed./.