After a terrible start to the season, Ronald Koeman has been sacked by Barcelona.
Barcelona fell to Rayo Vallecano 1-0 in La Liga on Wednesday night and dropped to ninth place.
Koeman would receive his marching orders after losing to Vallecas, according to Spanish sources. The official announcement from the club came late on Wednesday night.
Koeman was thanked by Barcelona for his services and wished good luck in his career in a short statement.
It is understood that Barcelona's first loss to Rayo since 2002 was the straw that broke the camel's back.
In addition to their domestic problems, Barça have also made a terrible start to their Champions League campaign and are in danger of not making the last 16 for the first time since the competition was reformed in 2003.
In spite of the dreaded vote of confidence from club president Joan Laporta, Koeman was unable to save his job, and Barcelona have been working hard to secure Xavi as his successor long before he was even sacked.
He has been the head coach of Qatari side Al-Sadd since 2019 and has been tremendously successful with them.
It is likely that the B team coach Sergi Barjuan will be named interim manager if Joan Laporta cannot convince Xavi to return. Marcelo Gallardo - whose contract with River Plate runs until the end of 2021 - is also on the shortlist.tion if Xavi is not willing to return to Camp Nou.
