Former Barcelona Manager: 'You Go There and You Don't Have to Do Anything'

Manager Quique Setien has admitted that his time at Barcelona was one of the toughest spells of his professional career. He took the helm in January 2020 before being dismissed in August that year, following a humiliating 8-2 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich.

The Spaniard acknowledged that he never managed to show his true personality in Catalonia, failing to build the kind of personal and professional dressing-room relationships he had enjoyed at previous clubs.

"I wasn't myself at Barcelona. Either I couldn't do it, or I didn't know how to do it. That's the truth. I wasn't myself because that's not who I am. I have a certain character, and when I look at photos from that period, I don't recognise myself. I had come from Real Betis, and while it's true I left there amid widespread calls for my sacking, the dressing room atmosphere was extraordinary," he said in an in-depth interview on the 'El que marca gana' podcast.

Setien also reflected on the unique dynamic of managing a side steeped in firmly established playing principles: "When you sign for Barcelona, you arrive and it is the only place where you don't have to do anything. The players already understand the philosophy. There is no need to explain how to stay compact, combine with each other, draw the opposition press, and then switch the play into space."

Despite the difficult tenure, Setien insisted he has no regrets about accepting the job: "I once told Lionel Messi: 'I spent 14 years of my life waiting for Barcelona fixtures just to watch you play.'"

Setien also revealed a surprising twist in his path to Camp Nou—just days before agreeing to take over at Barca, he was on the verge of signing for an Egyptian club.

"People were calling me and saying, 'Don't go to Egypt, because you might sign for Barcelona.' And I would reply, 'Why on earth would I sign for Barcelona? What have I done to earn the Barcelona job?'"

The confirmation came just three days later. "They called me and said, 'Pack your bags, get on a plane, because this afternoon you're signing for Barcelona.' So I went to Barcelona and signed," he recalled.