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#1 Should Ernesto Valverde stay?
One of the main issues is the fate of manager Ernesto Valverde. There are plenty of questions yet to be answered by the club. Will he continue? If not, then who will come?
Valverde has now lost in the Champions League quarterfinal, in 2018, and the semi-final in 2019. Both losses came after comfortable first-leg wins. And despite winning La Liga twice, and the Copa del Rey in 2018, he is not the most popular man in Barcelona.
Shortly after the debacle in Liverpool, Barcelona had to face Valencia in the Copa del Rey final. It was assumed that stakes for both club and coach were high. Valverde once again amused the supporters by opting for Sergi Roberto -- who has consistently played as a right-back -- on the right wing while keeping Malcom, a natural winger, on the bench.
His tactics have been sometimes frustrating for Barcelona, who have watched him play Arturo Vidal on the left of midfield, often refusing to trust Malcom and Arthur. Valverde has also disappointed in big games, being outdone tactically.
Despite all this, club president Bartomeu addressed the media after the Copa del Rey final loss, saying: "We've been thinking about next season for some time, but this isn't the moment to explain what will happen. We won the league, so it has been an important season. Valverde has a contract and is the coach. This defeat was not the fault of our coach. We had many chances and the ball didn't go in".
Even senior players such as Messi and Gerard Pique have publicly defended their manager. Messi, who was a part of the press conference before the Copa Del Rey final - his first since 2015 - gave his opinion on the Basque coach: "I would like Valverde to continue next year, we won a double last year and we can repeat that this year. The coach has done impressive work. All the time he's been here, he's not to blame for the Liverpool elimination, we are the ones to blame."
Amidst all this support from within the club, Valverde faces a huge task in gaining the confidence of fans, who have let it known that they would prefer his exit.
