Barcelona's new coach: Who is Quique Setien?

Goal has everything you need to know about the former Real Betis boss, who has succeeded the sacked Ernesto Valverde in the Camp Nou hot seat
Ex-Real Betis coach Quique Setien has been appointed Barcelona coach following Ernesto Valverde’s dismissal on Monday night.

With both Xavi and Ronald Koeman turning down the chance to take over their former club, the Blaugrana board have turned to Setien following a challenging period for the club under Valverde.

Indeed, despite winning La Liga in his first two seasons at the club, Valverde’s position at Camp Nou had long been under scrutiny after embarrassing Champions League capitulations, against Roma and Liverpool.


The pressure only intensified after Barcelona threw away another lead, this time in last Thursday's Supercopa de Espana semi-final loss to Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona were initially eager to appoint Xavi as permanent coach to replace Valverde, but the current Al-Sadd manager did not want to take the job immediately, preferring instead to return in the summer.

However, Setien has been given a contract until the end of the 2021-22 season, meaning we are unlikely to see Xavi back at Camp Nou for some time.

The focus now, then, is on Setien, and Goal has everything you need to know about Valverde's surprise successor, his coaching history and more...

Who is Quique Setien?
Having honed his skills playing beach football, Setien became a legend at Racing Santander, where he is known as 'El Maestro', having spent 12 seasons across two different spells with his hometown club.

He went on to have fruitful spells at the likes of Atletico Madrid and Logrones before retiring after a short stint at Levante, in 1996.

Unsurprisingly, Setien got his coaching career up and running at his beloved Racing, in 2000. Spells at Poli Ejido and Logrones followed before he took charge of the Equatorial Guinea national side for three months. He also trained Lugo for five years, with promotion to Segunda Division B the undoubted highlight of his tenure.

In October 2015, the Spaniard then took on the reins of Las Palmas, who were in the Liga relegation zone at the time of his arrival. Setien eventually led the tiny Canary Islands club to an 11th-placed finish and even had them competing for a European place the following year.

Las Palmas eventually fell short but, by that point, Setien had drawn widespread praise for his side's attractive, possession-orientated football.





GOAL