Spanish club FC Barcelona removed Ronald Koeman from his position of first-team coach on Wednesday, the team management announced in an official statement. The 58-year-old was informed of the decision by Joan Laporta, the President of the club.
According to the statement, Koeman will “say goodbye to the squad on Thursday at the Ciutat Esportiva.”
He leaves with the club in ninth place in the Spanish league standings with 15 points from 10 matches.
The Spanish club has so far not made any official announcements about Koeman’s replacement.
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Barcelona has recorded a string of poor performances in their appearances in La Liga, including the most recent one against Rayo Vallecano, where the team lost 1-0.
The team also lost to rivals Real Madrid on Sunday, before which Koeman said that side cannot be afraid of Real Madrid when the two teams clash.
“We have to play without fear,” the Barcelona coach said, according to reports from Associated Press. “We have to show that we can win and that we will be motivated to win from the start.”
Among the team’s five losses this season were 3-0 results in the Champions League against Bayern Munich at home and at Benfica.
The loss to Rayo marked the team’s fifth away match without a win, something that hadn’t happened to the club in nearly two decades.
Barcelona won five matches and drew three this season under the Dutch coach who took over shortly after the team’s 8-2 loss to Bayern in the Champions League last year. His only title with the Catalan club was last season’s Copa del Rey, according to reports from Associated Press
Koeman had been publicly at odds with Laporta, though the club had recently expressed its support for the coach, including after he was harassed by a small group of fans outside the stadium after the home loss to Madrid last weekend.
