Tuesday night has gone down as the worst night in recent history for Barcelona. Leading 3-0 against a Liverpool side that was without both Salah and Firmino, the Blaugrana endured a nightmare in the second leg and was eliminated courtesy of a 4-0 loss at Anfield.
For a second straight year, the Catalan giant threw away a huge first-leg lead to bow out of the competition. Last season it was Roma, this time around it was the Reds, and now their manager has held his hands up in accepting the blame.
And with many calling for his sacking on Twitter after the final whistle, the Spanish manager admitted that he is unsure about his future at Camp Nou. Speaking to the media after their elimination, Valverde said (as per Evening Standard):
"I don't know how this affects my future. We haven't had time to think about those things. But here we are and the coach has to take responsibility."
The gaffer admitted that this defeat hurts more as it is a repeat of what happened last season against Roma. The boss then went on to identify individual errors as their downfall.
"I don't know really what happened (with that goal). All the goals are errors from someone. If we look at the goals we have conceded, they are all errors of some kind. We were caught by surprise (for the fourth goal), I imagine we were ball watching.
"We were very focused on set plays because they are the best team in the Premier League at dead balls and we were caught by surprise."
This humiliation is one that will remain in the memory of Barcelona and their fans for a while. As for Liverpool, this comeback will go down in history. They now await either Ajax or Tottenham in the final.
