Despite having been sacked at the end of the 2019/20 campaign after just six months in charge, Quique Setien has insisted that he would be prepared to return to Barcelona in the future.
Although the campaign was pretty poor considering the standards that the club have set for themselves over the years, the former manager has described his time as an “extraordinary” experience and would love to return to the helm of the Nou Camp club if given the chance.
FC Barcelona ended the season without a trophy and were humiliated in a number of matches throughout his tenure, with their 8-2 defeat to FC Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals one such occasion that remains firmly in the mind. With a defeat like that, it would be unlikely that Blaugrana will look to acquire his services once again.
Nonetheless, the 62-year-old has spoken extremely well of his short stay at the club and admits he has no regrets over the time he spent there.
“The experience was extraordinary,” Setien told Marca, via GOAL.
“It is true that we did not enjoy what we would have liked and with that illusion I went from the beginning.
“Of course I would return to Barcelona and I would never regret having gone, not at all.”
Although it has been almost five months since his departure, Setien is yet to have been employed by a club, although that might be down to the fact that he required to go through the grief and mourn his sacking. Bettors will know the feeling if they miss out on free bet promotions from bookmakers, especially if they are some of the best available on the internet!
The former Real Betis and Las Palmas manager said: “I have already overcome the mourning that I had to go through for what happened in Barcelona.
“But this is an accident, one more that you take as part of your job.”
It could be argued things have not improved for FC Barcelona despite turning to Ronald Koeman to try and bring the glory back to the Nou Camp.
The Catalan giants are floundering in La Liga at the moment and remain well off the pace that Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have set at the top of the division.
Their UEFA Champions League adventure has been a little bit better, as they managed to ease through to the knockout phase, although Juventus were the only real challengers in the group with FC Dynamo Kyiv and Ferencvarosi hardly putting up a challenge.
Nonetheless, they will face last season’s runners-up, Paris Saint-Germain, in the next stage.
