Barcelona extend Valverde contract until 2020

Barcelona announced Friday Ernesto Valverde has agreed to stay on as coach for at least one more season.

Barcelona have extended coach Ernesto Valverde's contract by another year until the end of the 2019-20 season with an option for one more year, the La Liga champions said on Friday.

"FC Barcelona and Ernesto Valverde, the first team coach, have reached an agreement to extend the contract between the two parties for another season (2019/20) with the option for one more (2020/21)," the club said in a statement on their website.

The announcement is a huge vote of confidence in Valverde, whose future with the club looked uncertain after he said last December that he did not know what he would be doing the following year.

Valverde, 55, succeeded Luis Enrique as coach in 2017, earning the job after sustained success with Athletic Bilbao.

He guided Barca to a La Liga and Copa del Rey double in his debut campaign and almost led them to an unbeaten season in the league, losing only their penultimate game to Levante.

He, however, faced strong criticism for the team's failure in the Champions League, exiting the tournament on away goals to AS Roma, throwing away a 4-1 lead from the first leg by losing 3-0 in the away leg.

The collapse in Europe's elite competition, which Barca have not won since 2015 while Real Madrid have lifted the trophy for the last three years, seriously damaged the coach's reputation and cast doubt on his long term future.

Last month, Valverde said his stay at the club would depend on his achievements this season, and there was a feeling he would not be given an extra year if the club did not make serious progress in the Champions League.

Barcelona lead the league standings with 51 points from 23 games, six points ahead of Real Madrid. They face Real Valladolid in La Liga on Saturday, meeting Olympique Lyonnais in a Champions League last-16 first leg on Tuesday.

X
Sitelerimizde reklam ve pazarlama faaliyetlerinin yürütülmesi amaçları ile çerezler kullanılmaktadır.

Bu çerezler, kullanıcıların tarayıcı ve cihazlarını tanımlayarak çalışır.

İnternet sitemizin düzgün çalışması, kişiselleştirilmiş reklam deneyimi, internet sitemizi optimize edebilmemiz, ziyaret tercihlerinizi hatırlayabilmemiz için veri politikasındaki amaçlarla sınırlı ve mevzuata uygun şekilde çerez konumlandırmaktayız.

Bu çerezlere izin vermeniz halinde sizlere özel kişiselleştirilmiş reklamlar sunabilir, sayfalarımızda sizlere daha iyi reklam deneyimi yaşatabiliriz. Bunu yaparken amacımızın size daha iyi reklam bir deneyimi sunmak olduğunu ve sizlere en iyi içerikleri sunabilmek adına elimizden gelen çabayı gösterdiğimizi ve bu noktada, reklamların maliyetlerimizi karşılamak noktasında tek gelir kalemimiz olduğunu sizlere hatırlatmak isteriz.