Barcelona sack sporting director Eric Abidal after Champions League exit

The Frenchman follows manager Quique Setien in paying the price for the disastrous defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich on Friday

Barcelona sporting director Eric Abidal (AFP via Getty Images)

Eric Abidal has left his role as Barcelona’s sporting director with immediate effect, the club have confirmed.

The Frenchman follows manager Quique Setien in paying the price for the disastrous defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich on Friday which saw them crash out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage.

More changes are surely coming, both on and off the pitch, with a summer clearout of a number of players now expected.

The club confirmed the news with a short statement on Tuesday afternoon.

“FC Barcelona and Éric Abidal have reached an agreement for the ending of the contract that united the two parties,” it read.

“The club would publicly like to thank Éric Abidal for his professionalism, commitment, dedication and the close and positive nature of his relationship with all aspects of the blaugrana family.”

Abidal, a former Barca defender and two-times Champions League winner with the club, had been in the role for over two years but has been let go after one of the club's worst seasons in recent memory.

He was also the target of criticism from Lionel Messi earlier this year, who accused his former team mate of blaming the squad for Ernesto Valverde getting sacked as coach last January.

Setien signed a contract in January to keep him at the LaLiga outfit until the summer of 2022 and won 16 of his 25 games, but it was his five defeats which proved crucial.

Even before Friday’s thrashing by Bayern, the Spaniard was under pressure after he failed to stop Real Madrid clinching the LaLiga title.

The former Real Betis boss was also unable to lead Barcelona to success in the Copa del Rey either, with Athletic Bilbao knocking them out in the quarter-finals.

Former player Ronald Koeman is widely expected to succeed him with one his primary problems to solve being the future of captain Messi, who will be out of contract next summer.