Setién remains unrivaled

Regardless of the results obtained between now and the end of the season, if it is resumed, the collateral effects of the state of confinement ensure, except for a catastrophe, the continuity of Quique Setién at the head of Barça next season. Ronald Koeman was the number one favorite to train the Barça club in the 2020-21 season, but the postponement of the Euro Cup will lengthen the Wembley hero's commitment to the Dutch Federation. Koeman said no to Barça last January, when Valverde was fired, but made it clear to Eric Abidal that he was willing to take over the team in the last year of Josep Maria Bartomeu's tenure. Now, it will have to wait. Koeman was the second coach to say no after Xavi's gourds to the President.

It was then when, after ruling out a call to Pochettino for the rejection he generated in the Barça environment, the Setién option appeared, which he did not think twice about. He signed until June 2022, although Bartomeu established a clause by which the next president of Barcelona, ​​who will be elected in June 2021, can break the contract with the Cantabrian and have free hands to sign the coach he deems appropriate. Even so, there were doubts that Setién would endure until the end of the current president's mandate if he did not retain, at least, the LaLiga title.

The current scenario, which rules out Koeman, Xavi and even Roberto Martínez, the Belgian coach, would make Bartomeu even more 'understanding' if Barça closed the season without titles. With each passing day, in addition, Setién earns more integers to follow because the calendars of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons will almost overlap. A continuity line might be appropriate. Setién, then, has remained unrivaled, although he does not have everything resolved. Between now and the end of the season, he will have to show that he has made some progress and that he has given the squad, at least in some respects, the famous 'boost' that Barça's management and sports leadership showed when they signed.

But it is true that the very special circumstances surrounding this crisis help to think that its continuity is near. In his hand he has to continue and, what he has shown since he entered through the door of the Camp Nou locker room, is that he has no illusion. At 61 years old, he is able to savor what it means to train Barça, although he has discovered that one of his header phrases, “losing is an option”, is unskillful in a big game.