7, July 2020
La Liga: Barca wake from slumber to give glimmer of hope to Setien 0
“Barcelona haven’t thrown in the towel”, read the front page of Mundo Deportivo after a night that offered hope to the team and a lifeline for their coach Quique Setien.
Setien has been in charge for only three months of competitive football but looked likely to be out in the cold by next season, following Tuesday’s draw away at Atletico Madrid.
Three draws in four games, deteriorating performances and unrest in the dressing room were all stacking up against Barca’s new coach but the loudest alarm bell of all was rung by his captain.
Frustrated with the lack of direction at the club, Lionel Messi halted talks about extending his contract beyond 2021 and his current plan is now to leave, said Spanish radio station Cadena Ser.
Messi’s principal grievance is not with Setien but Barcelona’s board who, under president Josep Maria Bartomeu, have overseen a string of political blunders off the pitch and a period of decline on it.
With presidential elections to come next year, Messi’s hesitation may be aimed at undermining this regime to accelerate change, but Setien was undoubtedly caught in the crossfire.
Amid the chaos at Barcelona, he has increasingly looked like a bystander, “a passenger” according to Antoine Griezmann’s father, demonstrated all too literally by his lack of influence in team talks.
Messi ignored him and his number two Eder Sarabia during one water break and the contrast was unfortunate against Atletico, whose players huddled round, hanging on the every word of their coach Diego Simeone.
And yet the 4-1 victory over Villarreal on Sunday gave a glimpse of what this Barca could look like under Setien and what presumably the board were hoping for when they appointed him in January.
Free-flowing, dynamic, confident, it was the team’s best performance under Setien and perhaps their most complete all season.
Some complaints were answered too as Griezmann started, played well, scored a sensational chip and combined instinctively with Luis Suarez and Messi.
The passing was quicker and the chances more regular, a welcome improvement after a series of plodding displays in which possession too often came at the expense of end product.
And Setien was bold, dropping Messi back into a more central attacking position behind Griezmann and Suarez, who was then taken off after an hour with the result still not yet secure.
It was a morale-boosting win that will surely come too late for Barca’s title bid given Madrid’s four-point lead and a friendly looking run-in.
But it might renew some faith in Setien, from Bartomeu, who visited his house for discussions last week, and from Messi, whose approval is the one that really counts.
Removing Setien this summer would be another admission of failure for Barca, who would have to pay compensation they cannot afford and find a replacement for a job that might prove difficult to promote.
This is a squad that needs renovating at a time when funds are no longer readily available while the prospect of presidential change next year would offer a new coach little long-term security.
Xavi Hernandez is waiting in the wings, with his new Al-Saad contract reportedly containing a break clause that allows him to join his former club at any time.
Setien, for another season at least, would be the easier option then but a failing team will not help Bartomeu and it will not bring comfort to Messi either.
At 33, every year for him is precious.
Barcelona have four games left and then the Champions League next month, with the chance to resuscitate one of their most disappointing seasons in recent memory. Setien’s future depends on it.
Source: AFP
7, July 2020
Barcelona president: ‘We have obligation to re-sign Messi’ 0
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu responded to a storm of speculation by saying on Tuesday that the club had “an obligation to re-sign” Lionel Messi, calling him “the best player in history”.
“Normally we do not explain the discussions with players but it is evident that we have the obligation to re-sign him”, Bartomeu told Catalan radio station Rac1. “He is the best player in history. He has many years of football left.”
Bartomeu also said Barca coach Quique Setien would keep his job despite a run of unconvincing form since La Liga’s restart that has seen the reigning champions lose top spot to Real Madrid.
The president said he was happy with the direction of the club and maintained he had been right to replace Ernesto Valverde in January.
Bartomeu also said Barcelona are trying to have the second leg of the Champions League second leg against Napoli played at the Camp Nou instead of at a neutral venue.
Last week, another radio station, Cadena Ser, reported that Messi had broken off negotiations on extending his contract, which runs until 2021, and was thinking of leaving Barcelona.
The report said Messi was frustrated with the club’s failure to build a winning squad and was tired of leaks from the club which paint him in a bad light. He was also reportedly upset at reports that the players had got Valverde fired.
But Bartomeu said: “I see a relaxed Leo… He has said many times that he wants to finish (his career) at Barca.”
– ‘ Win one and then the other’ –
Bartomeu, who must stand down in 2021, insisted that he sees Messi “retiring at Barca under another president because he will sign for another spell.”
Bartomeu said he spoke to his captain on Saturday.
“I talk to the players very often. Not only with Leo, but also with the group, especially with the captains. Besides, lately we have a lot of topics to talk about,” said Bartomeu.
Before beating Villarreal 4-1 on Sunday, Barcelona had drawn three of their previous four matches and slipped four points behind Real in the title race, putting Setien under pressure.
“Setien will continue, of course,” said Bartomeu. “I am quite happy with the development we are showing in the games despite the draws.
“I do not regret the change of Valverde. The team needed a boost. Setien knows our DNA, the model and he has brought fresh air and new ideas and is working hard,” said Bartomeu before adding that “coaches, evidently, need results.”
“If La Liga, which will be difficult, is not won then comes the Champions League in August. We have to try to win one and then the other,” said Bartomeu.
He said that Barca are trying to ensure home advantage for the second leg of the Champions League tie against Napoli. The clubs drew the first leg 1-1 in Naples on February 25 before the season was interrupted.
“We are fighting for the second leg of the round of 16 to be played at the Camp Nou. UEFA, if the situation is normal, knows that we would play here,” Bartomeu said
In Spain, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic, one of the main outbreaks has been in an inland area of Catalonia, where regional authorities on Saturday announced the isolation of some 200,000 inhabitants in an area around the city of Lerida, about 150 kilometres (93 miles) west of Barcelona.
Source: AFP