Barcelona have announced the sacking of sporting director Eric Abidal following their humiliating exit from the UEFA Champions League.
The Blaugrana were thrashed 8-2 by German champions Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals last week Friday.
Manager Quique Setien has already been shown the door, with the club’s former defender Ronald Koeman poised to be appointed as the new manager in the coming days.
And now Abidal, another former player at the club, has been removed from the role he held since June 2018.
Barca said in a brief statement: “The club publicly expresses its gratitude to Eric Abidal for the professionalism, commitment, dedication and positive and close treatment that he has always shown towards all the estates that make up the Barca family, and wishes him luck and success in the future.”
Abidal’s relationship with Lionel Messi had become strained in recent months, with Messi claiming that the Frenchman had been singling out players for blame amid the sacking of former boss Ernesto Valverde.