Setien set to be sacked
'Sorry' Barca president says changes will be made after Champions League humiliation
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Thomas Muller raising his hand after opening the scoring for Bayern Munich in their 8-2 demolition of Barcelona during the Champions League quarter-final in Lisbon, Portugal, on Friday. The Germany forward scored his second in the 31st minute as Bayern made it 4-1 at the interval.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LISBON • Barcelona coach Quique Setien's job is in jeopardy, after Josep Maria Bartomeu indicated that there will be changes at the club after Friday's humiliating 8-2 Champions League quarter-final defeat by Bayern Munich.
"It has been a very, very tough night. I am sorry for the Barca fans and members, for the players… For everyone," the Barca president told Movistar. "We were not the club that we represent, I am so sorry.
"There are some decisions that we had already made, and others that we will make over the next few days. Announcements will be made from next week, we need to make decisions after things have calmed down."
German champions Bayern utterly humiliated Barca with an extraordinary demolition job that saw Setien's men suffer their heaviest-ever defeat in Europe.
Thomas Muller scored twice either side of goals from Ivan Perisic and Serge Gnabry in a stunning opening 31 minutes at an empty Estadio da Luz, with a David Alaba own-goal having briefly brought Barca back level.
Luis Suarez pulled it back to 4-2 in the second half, but Barca then caved in, with Joshua Kimmich getting Bayern's fifth before three more goals in the final stages, one for the prolific Robert Lewandowski and two for substitute Philippe Coutinho.
Renowned Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano said after the match that Barca have already decided to sack Setien and that "he will not be the manager next season".
Setien preferred to avoid discussing his future but admitted big changes would have to be made.
"Right now, it's too soon to say whether I will continue or not. I know that the credibility of a coach decreases when you have a defeat like this," he said.
"This defeat has hurt me a lot. It's such an overwhelming defeat and I'm not just worried about my future, I'm thinking about what an awful defeat this is for the club.
"We have to analyse what has happened today from a wider perspective. We were over-powered by a very, very good team. They completely overwhelmed us."
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5 BARCA'S WORST DEFEATS
SEVILLA 11 BARCA 1 (La Liga, 1940)
REAL MADRID 8 BARCA 2 (La Liga, 1935)
BAYERN 8 BARCA 2 (Champions League q-final, 2020)
AC MILAN 4 BARCA 0 (Champions League final, 1994)
LIVERPOOL 4 BARCA 0 (Champions League s-final, 2019)
8 Bayern Munich are the first to score eight goals in a Champions League knockout match.
Robert Lewandowski is the first Bayern player to score in eight consecutive games in a major European competition.
Bayern's eight goals are the most Barcelona have conceded in Europe. The 8-2 loss is also their biggest defeat in a single Champions League tie.
REUTERS
