Quique Setien Apologises for Assistant's 'Embarrassing' Antics in Barcelona's Defeat to Real Madrid
Barcelona manager Quique Setien has apologised for the heavily criticised behaviour of assistant manager Eder Sarabia during his side's 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid on Sunday.
Sarabia came under fire from sections of the Spanish press for his remarks towards the Barcelona players during El Clasico. Spanish TV show Vamos went as far as consulting a lip reader to determine disparaging remarks used towards Antoine Griezmann after the French international missed a chance, and reports in Spain have suggested his antics rubbed the players up the wrong way.
Speaking to Spanish publication El Periodico, as quoted by Sky Sports, Setien has apologised profusely, labelling the controversy an 'embarrassment', and insisting the club must protect their image by refraining from such behaviour on the touchline in future.
Barcelona don't find Eder Sarabia's behavior at the Bernabéu inappropriate. However, the club will ask him to be a little bit more discreet in conversations with the other assistants on the bench, knowing that everything is being recorded these days. [@sinconcesiones]
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) March 4, 2020
"We apologised to everyone, we cannot behave like that," he said. "We don't like to see things like this, we have committed an error and we should try to avoid something like this happening again.
"This situation has affected me a lot, because I am concerned about the image of the club. We need to take care of that image, because we can be criticised for substitutions, tactics, etc, but not for our behaviour.
"It's true that you have to understand how people are at certain moments, we are not all the same. Eder has a great temperament, and in many situations it helps us phenomenally well.
Eder Sarabia (angry in the dugout during Sunday's game) "That pass shouldn't have gone to Busi, it should have gone to one of the midfielders either side of him!" #ElClasico (via @vamos) pic.twitter.com/QDDcqjfZ3I
— FC Barcelona Fl (@FCBarcelonaFl) March 2, 2020
"But he has to learn to control himself. He's trying to do that, he's trying to improve in this area because we have had situations like this before. They are becoming rarer, but it's something that we don't like to see.
"It's a bit of an embarrassment that this has become a news story and has provoked such a huge reaction."
Barca's defeat to Real allowed the Madrid side to leapfrog them at the top of La Liga, ceding the initiative in a title race it seems neither side really wants to win.