Barcelona fell to defeat in their La Liga opener against Athletic Bilbao on Friday night, and unsurprisingly it has led to a furious reaction towards coach Ernesto Valverde.
A stunning late goal from stalwart Aritz Aduriz sealed the three points for the hosts, with the Catalan giants failing to get a positive result in the absence of the injured Lionel Messi.
SEE MORE: Video: Stunning 360° view of Aritz Aduriz golazo for Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona
It certainly wasn’t the start that the reigning La Liga champions wanted, nor was it a positive way for Valverde to start the season as he came under intense scrutiny and criticism from fans last year, particularly after their setbacks in the Champions League and Copa del Rey final.
Not even back-to-back league titles could save him from that backlash, and it seems as though these fans are ready to call for his departure already despite only being one game into the new campaign.
It’s every fan’s right to have an opinion on these matters in truth and having seen their team week in and week out, there are clearly widespread feelings that Valverde isn’t getting the best out of the squad at his disposal.
The assumption that they would struggle without Messi was painfully predictable for most, and so he’ll be under pressure to respond to that early setback and get Barcelona back on track in the coming weeks to prove that he’s the man to lead them to more major honours moving forward.
Based on the reaction below, these Barcelona fans can’t wait for a change to be made on the bench as while the club posted an update on Luis Suarez after he suffered a calf injury, the fans had something else on their mind that they wanted to share instead…
[INJURY NEWS] Tests carried out on Saturday morning have confirmed that @LuisSuarez9 has an injured right calf. His recovery will dictate his return to action. pic.twitter.com/QeXdD3gMii
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 17, 2019
Throw valverde out of my club.
— FC Barcelona (@FCB_universe1) August 17, 2019
Eh #ValverdeOut
— Joe_slzr ? (@Salazarjoseph15) August 17, 2019
— ? (@Faisal_10057) August 17, 2019
#ValverdeOut #ValverdeOut#ValverdeOut#ValverdeOut
— Smart is the new cool? (@Vitman618) August 17, 2019
We isn’t Valverde ever injured? pic.twitter.com/TaiG72ybQa
— Notorious Messi ?? (@NotoriousMessii) August 17, 2019
Valverde Out
— FCBCulé (@CulePerSempre10) August 17, 2019
Why isn’t Valverde resigning?????
— thereal25theliquor (@25TheLiquor) August 17, 2019
— Hamrin™? (@Messility) August 17, 2019
In every social media fans are trying to say we don’t want valverde. We need a great coach like pep or ajax coach but club don’t care about what we say
— CATALAN.Leo10 (@CatalanLeo10) August 17, 2019
