The Biggest Debut La Liga Wins for Barcelona Managers

For the opening game of the 2008/09 La Liga season, Barcelona travelled to the tiny Los Pajaritos ground of newly promoted Numancia.

Pep Guardiola's maiden league match at the helm of Barça pitted him against a side in just their fourth season of top flight football ever and with an annual budget 26 times smaller than that of their esteemed visitors.

Yet, despite the overwhelming chasm in resources, Numancia earned a shock 1-0 win.

However, debuts can be misleading. Guardiola would go on to oversee an era of glory almost unparalleled in the history of the club and perhaps even modern European football.

While there are few managers who can boast greater success in the Camp Nou hot-seat than Guardiola, plenty have enjoyed vastly superior starts to a league campaign, including his former teammate and the current incumbent.

8. Ronald Koeman - Barcelona 4-0 Villarreal (2020)

As first weeks in the job go, having your team's talisman and club icon very publicly try and then fail to leave, not before swinging a few proverbial punches at the establishment's hierarchy, isn't the easiest of starts.

However, amid a cull of experienced players, Koeman was able to oversee what turned out to be a routine 4-0 win on his league debut. Admittedly this came against a Villarreal side which offered limp resistance, but there were plenty of early signs of encouragement at this nascent stage.

7. Vicente Sasot - Barcelona 4-0 Athletic Club (1964)

The year after Koeman was born, Vicente Sasot showed that a healthy debut win doesn't always precede a long and successful career as Barcelona manager.

Sasot replaced César Rodriguez in October 1964. After defeating Athletic Club, the former Sabadell player could only steer Barcelona to a mid-table finish - incidentally, ending the campaign with the same number of points as their Basque opponents.

He left at the end of the season to embark upon a nomadic career in Spain's lower tiers.

6. Ferenc Plattkó - Barcelona 4-0 Arenas (1934)

As a player, Ferenc Plattkó - also known as Francisco Platko in Spain - won the inaugural La Liga title in 1929 as Barcelona's goalkeeper. Five years later the Hungarian-born custodian was appointed manager.

Plattkó's side started the 1934/35 La Liga campaign with gusto, sweeping aside lowly Arenas with a 4-0 win. However, that form soon faded and they finished the season in mid-table, ten points behind surprise winner Real Betis.

5. Udo Lattek - Barcelona 4-0 Cadiz (1981)

In the 1970s, Udo Lattek dominated the German footballing landscape first with Bayern Munich, then Borussia Mönchengladbach.

After arriving swapping the Bundesliga for Barcelona, Lattek guided the Catalan giants to second place, their highest league finish for three years while also winning the Cup Winners' Cup.

4. Tito Vilanova - Barcelona 5-1 Real Sociedad (2012)

Following the years of beautiful football and piles of trophies which mounted up during Guardiola's tenure as Barcelona manager made for a daunting prospect.

Yet, Tito Vilanova showed little signs of struggle after being promoted from the role of assistant in 2012.

The man nicknamed 'The Encyclopaedia' by Andrés Iniesta thrived at the helm, going unbeaten in the league until they met Sociedad in the reverse fixture in January. While Real Madrid descended into a toxic mess in José Mourinho’s third and final season, Barcelona racked up a record-equalling 100 points.

However, Vilanova’s reign only lasted a single season as he stepped down due to poor health and tragically passed away aged 45 the following year.

3. Joaquim Rifé - Barcelona 6-0 Sporting Gijón (1979)

Joaquim 'Quimet' Rifé - a former player and captain of Barcelona - replaced Lucien Müller in his first managerial role at the back-end of the 1978/79 season.

The 6-0 scoreline of his first game was made all the more impressive given it came against a Sporting Gijón side that had led the league for long stretches of the campaign and ultimately finished second.

Rifé only lost one more of his remaining six league matches that season and also guided Barça to triumph in the European Cup Winners’ Cup.

2. Ferdinand Daučik - Barcelona 8-2 Real Sociedad (1950)

On 15 June 1950 Ferdinand Daučik became Barcelona's manager. However, this date is woven into the fabric of the club's history because it also marked the day his brother-in-law, the legendary figure of Laszlo Kubala, joined Barça.

One of Kubala's stipulations for signing with Barcelona was the hiring of Daučik. However, the Hungarian coach proved his appointment was more than mere nepotism as he led the club to numerous titles during an incredible period of sustained success between 1950 and 1954 - admittedly, thanks in no small part to the goals of his sister's husband.

1. Gerardo Martino - Barcelona 7-0 Levante (2013)

Barcelona went the first 20 games of Gerardo Martino's stewardship unbeaten but - notably - playing a different style of football to the possession-based approach Guardiola.

Five days after Ajax ended this run, Martino’s first La Liga defeat was inflicted by Athletic Club. A side managed by Ernesto Valverde, the other coach Barcelona had considered hiring that summer.

This second loss in 22 matches prompted the Spanish paper Sport to run the headline: “This is not our Barça!”

That Barça side - whoever they belonged to - then gradually saw their lead at the top slip away until Atlético Madrid eventually sealed the title at Camp Nou on the final day of the campaign.

Suffice it to say, Martino didn’t make it to the following season.