Ernesto Valverde refused to entertain the idea of quitting as Barcelona boss after his side suffered a humiliating 3-1 defeat at Levante on Saturday afternoon.
Barcelona took the lead through a Lionel Messi penalty, but a devastating seven-minute spell saw the hosts destroy their visitors, scoring three goals and condemning Valverde’s men to a crushing defeat.
Valverde’s job security has been under constant scrutiny in recent times, and the Spanish boss has lost the support of many Barcelona fans. However, when asked whether he would quit during a post-match press conference, the 55-year-old was defiant over his future in la Blaugrana’s hot-seat, as reported by Marca.
“I’m not thinking of resigning,” Valverde declared. “We have to analyse what happened and ask ourselves why it did.”
The Barca boss remained calm after the game, but admitted that his side ‘struggle’ on the road, as reported by Barca Times.
“Levante were successful. Before their first goal, they didn’t really have chances, but neither did we.
“In the second half, we struggled to play forward with clear intention. The match was very unstable, because the goal difference was small. It is true that we struggle when we play away from home.”
When questioned over the attitude and mental strength of his players, Valverde was confident that Saturday’s collapse was nothing more than an anomaly.
“It’s true that we conceded three times in seven minutes and we didn’t respond, but the attitude is always good”.
Barca winger Ousmane Dembélé was left out of the travelling squad by Valverde, and the coach insisted that his exclusion was a tactical decision.
“It was my decision to leave Dembélé in Barcelona. It was a technical decision to leave out Dembélé. It’s normal that you talk about the player, who is missing when you lose.”
Despite their stumble, la Blaugrana are still at the summit of La Liga, ahead of rivals Real Madrid on goal difference.
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