This has been a terrible year for so many, but it has been an especially tough 2020 for Barcelona as the Blaugrana went from one crisis to another.
From on-the-pitch humiliation to coaching controversies to financial issues, here comes a look back at the Catalan club’s tough year.
January
The year started with a Catalan derby against Espanyol and a late Wu Lei goal saw Barcelona drop points in a 2-2 draw.
The Supercopa de Espana followed and a loss to Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals led to the sacking of Ernesto Valverde.
Oscar Grau and Eric Abidal met with Xavi Hernandez in Doha, but the former captain said ‘no’ and the club eventually settled on Quique Setien as their new boss.
The new coach got off to a slow start, suffering a lot against Ibiza in the Copa del Rey and losing to Valencia in LaLiga Santander.
February
February is the shortest month of the year, but it was a long one for Barcelona and it started with Lionel Messi firing back at technical secretary Eric Abidal after he criticised some of the players’ attitudes.
An injury to Ousmane Dembele also had Barcelona in the headlines as they signed Martin Braithwaite from Leganes, a transfer that left the capital city side in a tough spot and that didn’t go down well in some quarters.
On the pitch, LaLiga Santander results improved but the team crashed out of the Copa del Rey against Athletic Club.
March
The first fixture of March was El Clasico and Barcelona were well beaten at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, losing 2-0 to Real Madrid.
Assistant coach Eder Sarabia went viral for all the wrong reasons for his shouting from the sidelines.
After a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad, the coronavirus lockdown hit and brought more misery to Barcelona supporters, just as it did for fans across Spain.
April
Even in a month of lockdown, Barcelona still sought out drama and several directors resigned from their posts. Continue reading