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What’s the story?
After last night's Copa del Rey loss to Valencia, the pressure keeps mounting on Ernesto Valverde but he seems to maintain his calm as he implied in the post-game interview that his side has failed to fulfill the expectations as they lost their way at the most critical part of the season.
In case you didn’t know...
Barcelona, a month ago, looked like a team that was on course to win the treble but an embarrassing exit at the hands of Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League and last night's loss to Valencia in the Copa Del Rey finals meant they finished the season with only the league title and the Supercopa de Espana to their name.
The heart of the matter
The former Athletic Bilbao manager implied that his side despite being dominant for most parts of the season failed to show up in the most important part of the season and implied that he failed to read the game and that is what cost them the title partly.
The Barcelona boss after his side's defeat in the Copa del Rey finals in the post-game interview said:
"I feel good, but when you win, you are happier".
"The reading of the game is different from the one we played 15 days ago, but the reality is that we have lost again.
"We have not fulfilled the expectations created. We thought about the treble and we lost our way at the decisive moment. It is evident that we are here to win titles.
"I'm fine, what we - the coaches - want is a rematch, to fight to have a challenge ahead.
"I know that losing is hard, something has failed. This responsibility is difficult and it has to be assumed."
Not even Lionel Messi's late effort could save the Catalan club as Kevin Gameiro's and Rodrigo's goals were enough to seal the title for Valencia.
What's next?
Despite all the criticism from the fans, it looks like Valverde is poised to keep his job for the upcoming season as the Barca board believe in him and want to give the Spaniard some time.
