Former Barcelona coach says they hit “rock bottom” against Bayern Munich in 8-2 defeat

When Barcelona faced Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter finals last season, people around the world witness the end of an era. The Catalans suffered a historic 8-2 defeat, getting completely outplayed by the Bavarian machine in every possible aspect of the game. The humiliation was so severe that Quique Setien was fired just hours after the final whistle, and Leo Messi finally tried to organize his exit from the club last summer.

Now, Setien’s assistant manager Eder Sarabia has come out and spoken about what it felt like to concede EIGHT goals in such a huge encounter. Speaking to Marca (via Football Espana), the former Barca man said, “In the Champions League, after playing a great return game against Napoli, Bayern were next. In that game it was evident, as everyone knows, that the outcome was a consequence of many years and many things that were not done well. But we are very calm and proud of the work we did.”

Something tells me that Barca fans won’t be very happy with that answer. However, he’s right when he pins the blame on a culmination of several factors at the club. As we speak, Barcelona are currently operating under a provisional board with elections planned in January. The former president, Josep Maria Bartmeu, resigned after a vote of no confidence from club members — with the 8-2 game in August one of the major sources of dissatisfaction.

Sarabia spoke about the chances Barca had in the game, saying, “I do not have nightmares about Bayern because there were many things that were not in our control. You analyse it and it is undoubted that they were better, they had a great day although we also had our moments. I remember one from Luis Suárez, another when Busquets hit the post … the game could have changed.”

“But that was a consequence of many things in the past, but we look forward. There are players like Piqué who have come out and have explained things well. When you have not done things well for so long, these kinds of things happen. Sometimes it is good to hit rock bottom to lift your head. It was our turn. It is a shame what happened, but we do not have any grudges.”

Barcelona are currently 9th in La Liga with 4 losses after 10 games. So either Mr. Sarabia was mistaken about hitting rock bottom, or the Catalans found a shovel so that they could keep digging. Barca are such a mess right now. It’s kinda funny actually.