BARCELONA — Ernesto Valverde had to deal with the first major inquest into his management of Barcelona on Friday after his side were unexpectedly knocked out of the Champions League by Roma on Tuesday.
Barca squandered a three-goal advantage going into the second leg as they were eliminated on away goals to exit the competition at the quarterfinal stage for the third season in a row.
Valverde has been at the centre of the fallout. Despite losing just one of 48 games following the Spanish Super Cup defeat to Real Madrid, his conservative tactics and lack of substitutions at the Stadio Olimpico have been heavily criticised.
“When I signed my contract here, I knew what it would be like,” Valverde said in a news conference on Friday when asked if he felt people were being too hard on him.
“I knew how hard it would be to cope with defeats. It’s been a long time since a defeat. We had one against Espanyol [in the Copa del Rey in January], but we turned that tie around. So, it’s been nine months, more or less, [without losing]. For people to say things like [I’m too conservative], it’s something that goes with the role.
“When you sign a contract with a club like Barca, that’s what you have to cope with. You have to show your face when you’ve lost games. I knew that when I came into the job. It hasn’t surprised me. It happened to other coaches before me and it’s going to happen to me again.”
It was also put to Valverde that he betrayed the club’s attacking style by being too defensive in Rome, preferring to protect a lead rather than trying to win the game.
“I don’t think that’s the case at all,” he responded. “Let’s not get too dramatic and start writing horror stories.”
Asked if there were any positives, Valverde added: “When you lose is when you learn the most. Wins are big boosts for your confidence, but sometimes you don’t notice little things. When you lose a game, it means that the opponent has had a plan and it’s worked — now we need to see our capacity for response.
“We need to keep analysing the game and try to learn even more things. Defeats like that are a goldmine for drawing conclusions and seeing where you need to improve.”
Barca return to action against Valencia at Camp Nou on Saturday and can extend their unbeaten run in La Liga to 39 games, which would break the 38-game record set by Real Sociedad in 1980. It would also leave them needing just seven points from six games to win a seventh league title in 10 years.
With a Copa del Rey final to come, too, Valverde called on the club’s supporters to focus on the objectives they still have ahead of them.
“It’s a difficult moment of the season, maybe the most difficult,” Valverde said. “We have lost the chance to stay in a competition which excites us, so that’s a huge disappointment — not just for us, but also for the fans, and we feel responsible for letting them down.
“What we really want now is to get back on the pitch and to put things behind us. We still have two trophies to play for this season. No matter how much we look back at Tuesday’s game, we still lose it. We can’t keep looking back at it. We need to re-engage with the fans, keep our focus and try and achieve our objectives.”
Ivan Rakitic will miss Saturday’s game after undergoing surgery on a broken finger this week, but Sergio Busquets is included in the squad despite continuing to struggle with a broken bone in a foot.
“Busquets still has a small problem but it’s an important game and he will be with us,” Valverde said.
Samuel Marsden covers Barcelona for ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @SamuelMarsden.
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