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#2 A memorable week for Ernesto Valverde
Despite the result, the FC Barcelona boss will go home a happy and a content man. This week has seen two homecomings for Valverde; the first one coming at the weekend when Barcelona travelled to Athletic Bilbao and the second one coming against Olympiakos. Valverde has had two spells as Olympiakos manager (one from 2008-09 and the other from 2010-12) where he won three league titles and is a crowd favourite.
Before the match, the home support unfurled a giant tifo which had, "Ernesto, thank you for everything" on it. He was also awarded a plaque by the Olympiakos board for his service to the Greek club. Though the result did not go in Valverde's favour, Barcelona supporters did get a taste of how much admiration the 53-year-old garners in all of his previous clubs.
Valverde had some kind words for Olympiakos and the supporters in his post-match press conference. He said, "The answer to everything is how well our opponents played. They stuck tight together as a unit. We were up against an opponent that did their job well from start to finish. I always had this atmosphere in my favour and today it was against me."
