Quique Setién under pressure as Bacelona lose 0-2 to Valencia
Defending champions Barcelona crumbled again as they suffered a 0-2 loss at the hands of Valencia during their La Liga tie, in an away encounter, on Saturday. Although Barca stay atop the table, a win for Real Madrid on Sunday against Valladolid would allow the latter to go atop. Meanwhile, the loss has put new Barca coach Quique Setién under pressure. Here is more.
How did the match pan out?
As for the match, it began on a strong note for both sides, with Barca dominating with the ball possession throughout. However, it was in the 48th minute, when Maximiliano Gomez put the hosts ahead, having missed a penalty in the 12th minute. He doubled it in the 77th minute, following an assist from Ferran Torres, as it turned out to be the winner.
Setién admits Barca should have been better
Although Setién had success in his initial couple of matches at the club, his honeymoon period lasted for a fortnight, despite promising a new style of play for the club. "There are things they have not understood or maybe, we have not have explained ourselves well. In the first half, quite frankly, we were bad," he said post match.
We failed to connect with long balls: Setién
"There were things that certainly picked up on today or badly interpreted. We failed to connect with long balls and that's not the way we've been working. We improved in the second half but far from enough," added Setién.
Setién had replaced Ernesto Valverde at Barcelona
It was on January 13 when Setién was appointed as the club manager after Ernesto Valverde was sacked by the club, following their Super Cup semis defeat to Atletico Madrid. Valverde came under the scanner during the start of the season when the club struggled and managed to win just a couple in the opening six games. They also qualified for the UCL pre-quarters.
Some crucial stats from the match
In some interesting statistical observation: Lionel Messi has had 11 shots without scoring in this tie, which is the joint-most in a single match for the club in La Liga, with the previous being in December 2017, against Deportivo de La Coruña. Barca have lost the tie with the second-most possession percentage (73.52%) this season, with the highest being 73.71% for Grenada.
