ALTHOUGH he and his Barcelona soccer team were humiliated from the Uefa Champions League on Friday night, Quique Setien is not worried about his future as coach of the once powerful Catalans.
Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich humiliated Barcelona 8-2 in Friday’s Champions League quarter-final in Lisbon.
A shocking drag beats measured by the talent that Barca contract year in and year out.
With Argentina’s Lionel Messi in his ranks, Barca boast the best player in the world, but even his presence means little these days.
However, Setien has been spinning little talk about his future at the club – even though it looks like a resignation or dismissal could already happen on Saturday.
Barca’s owner demands excellence and it’s hard to see Setien clinging to his job.
Setien said: “It is still too early to say whether I will continue in my post or not. The decision is out of my hands and the club will have to reflect deeply after this humiliating and painful defeat.
“This defeat hurts me a lot. It’s so overwhelming that I’m not only worried about my future. I also think about how ugly a defeat it is for the club and its fans must be.”
Setien’s predecessor, Ernesto Valverde, was sacked in January due to Barca’s two previous Champions League exits and Setien knows his shares have fallen ugly following Barca’s biggest defeat ever in a European competition.
“I know what a defeat of this caliber means, but we have to analyse from a broader point of view what happened today,” said Setien.
“I know the credibility of a coach decreases when you lose like that. We were overwhelmed by a very good team. Except in the first few minutes, they dominated everything after that.
Barca’s president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, did not want to comment immediately after the massive defeat on what consequences there would be for the players’ group or coaches. However, he acknowledged that some’s time spent at the club might come to an end sooner.
Even the future of Messi is still a question mark, as the Argentine has not yet signed a new contract with Barca. This although Bartomeu had previously held thick that Messi would remain.
Bartomeu said: “We were not at the level we want to be. It was a disaster and we will have to make decisions soon.
“We have already started thinking about some and we will let those affected know in the coming days. Some decisions have already been made, the others will be made in the coming days.
“It is only now time to reflect, not make decisions in the heat of the moment. We first want to apologise to all Barcelona fans for this heavy defeat.”