Ranking the 5 worst managers in Barcelona history

Barcelona recently announced the appointment of their former player Xavi as their new manager till 2024. They did so by replacing one of their own in Ronald Koeman, who, like Xavi, donned the colours of the Blaugrana during a six-season spell.

Since Pep Guardiola parted ways with Barcelona in the summer of 2012, the club has failed to find a suitable replacement for the Spaniard. Guardiola arguably assembled the greatest team of the 21st century, leading Barcelona to a sextuple of titles in 2009. In the process, Barcelona became the first European club to do so.

Since then, Barcelona have appointed nine different managers, but have failed to find a long-term replacement. In Xavi, the Blaugrana might have finally found their man.

On that note, here's a look at arguably the five worst managers in Barcelona's history.

#5 Radomir Antic

Radomir Antic was Barcelona manager for a four-month spell.

Radomir Antic was appointed Barcelona manager for a brief four-month spell just before the appointment of Frank Rijkaard.

Although it may be unfair to judge Antic over a four-month-long tenure, he had a dismal record as Barcelona manager. The former Yugoslavian international had the worst win percentage (50%) by any Barcelona manager to have overseen at least five games this century.

Antic was appointed Barcelona manager midway through the 2003-04 season, with the club placed 15th in the La Liga table. Unsurprisingly, Antic failed to win a trophy during his managerial career at Camp Nou. He was replaced by the legendary Frank Rijkaard at the end of the season.

During his 24-match tenure as Barcelona manager, Antic won 12 games, drew eight and lost four.

#4 Ronald Koeman

Ronald Koeman was recently sacked by Barcelona.

The recently sacked Ronald Koeman left Barcelona as the manager with the worst winning record in almost two decades.

The Dutchman took over the reins at Camp Nou in the summer of 2020 from Quique Setien, with the club in tatters both on and off the pitch. Koeman undertook the unenviable job of reviving Barcelona amid a financial crisis, and had to deal with an unhappy Lionel Messi too. The Argentine had handed in a transfer request ahead of the 2020-21 season.

Koeman did a decent job of steadying the ship, but Messi's departure in the summer of 2021 exposed the underbelly of Barcelona's financial mess. The Dutchman could never really keep his squad united and happy following their star's departure, and inevitably faced the sack.

During his 14-month tenure at the club, Koeman became the second Barcelona manager in history to lose his first three Clasicos. The Dutchman had a low win percentage of 58% - the lowest since Radomir Antic in the 2002-03 season.

Koeman departed Barcelona with a record of 39 wins, 12 draws and 16 defeats from 67 matches in charge.

#3 Gerardo Martino

Gerardo Martino is now the head coach of Mexico.

Gerardo 'Tata' Martino was appointed at the helm of Barcelona ahead of the 2013-14 season.

The former Newell's Old Boys manager earned a reputation for being one of the most talented managers in the game during his time in the Argentine domestic league. Martino was so impressive that Barcelona decided against promoting a manager from the junior set-up to give the Argentine a chance to prove himself at the biggest stage.

However, things didn't pan out according to script for Barcelona and Martino, despite a flying start to his managerial career at Camp Nou. In the early days of the 2013-14 season, Barcelona were in pole position in the La Liga table, and were in contention for a continental treble.

Things, however, unravelled rather quickly in the second half of the season. Barcelona blew their lead to hand Atletico Madrid their first league title in almost 20 years. The Blaugrana also crashed out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals that season, losing 2-1 on aggregate to Atletico Madrid.

Following his year-long stint as Barcelona manager, Martino said in an interview:

"My Barça tenure was an utter failure. Normally failure means not winning. My view on that is different. If Barça had played their own style but not won the title, it wouldn't have been a failure. But we didn't win, and we didn't play well either."

#2 Laszlo Kubala

Laszlo Kubala was one of the greatest players to have donned the colours of Barcelona in the 20th century, winning 13 major trophies.

Barcelona celebrated the extraordinary playing career of Kubala by installing a towering bronze statue of him right outside Camp Nou. In 212 official appearances for Barcelona, the Hungarian-born former Spanish international scored 146 goals. Kubala also won four league titles and five domestic cups during his 11-year-long spell at Barcelona.

However, his success as a player didn't translate to his managerial career, as he hugely underperformed in two different spells. He remained trophyless in his first spell at Barcelona, which lasted for the better part of two years. However, his second spell was even more disappointing.

Kubala failed to secure a trophy in his second managerial stint at Barcelona as well, which lasted only six months. In his second spell at the club, Kubala only remained in charge for 13 matches, winning seven and losing six.

#1 Quique Setien

Quique Setien is regarded by many as the worst Barcelona manager in recent years, lasting only seven months at the job.

The Spaniard inherited an underperforming squad from Ernesto Valverde, but was tipped to be the man to turn around Barcelona's fortunes. Setien was an exponent of the Cruyffian philosophy, and his attacking style of play was deemed to be the perfect fit at Camp Nou.

Setien was a largely unknown entity when he was appointed at the helm of Barcelona, but was hugely impressive during his spell at Real Betis.

However, he never managed to replicate that success during his seven-month-long stint at Camp Nou. Setien went trophyless in his Barcelona stint, recording 16 wins, four draws and five losses in 25 games as manager. His last game in charge perfectly summed up his managerial term in Catalonia.

Barcelona endured an 8-2 humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich in the quarter-final of the UEFA Champions League. Quique Setien was relieved of his position just three days later, and was succeeded by Ronald Koeman.

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Edited by Bhargav