Is Quique Setien better than Ernesto Valverde?
Looking at the numbers, we analyse who has been better for Barcelona this season
More than five months after Ernesto Valverde was sacked, Barcelona are doing the same, more or less. Quique Setien has not changed the face of an inconsistent team which has been fragile away from Camp Nou.
When Barcelona sacked Valverde they were top of La Liga, on 40 points along with Real Madrid. The Copa had not started yet, but Valvere's side were eliminated by Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup.
Now the league situation is the same, equality on points with Real Madrid. Madrid's win over Barca in the Bernabeu Clasico puts them ahead on head-to-head.
With Valverde, Barca won 61% of games this season (16 of 26). With Setien it rises to 67% (10 of 15), although if you take out the cup win over minnows Ibiza it would be 64%. In terms of league points, Valverde took 40 of 57, while Setien has 25 of 33. The difference is only 5%.
Valverde hit 2.3 goals per game, Setien 1.87. However at the other end, Setien concedes 0.7 per game to Valverde's 1.3.
Away from home Valverde won 43% of games (six of 14) while Setien is 3 from 8 (38%).
So the team is performing at roughly the same level pre and post the manager swap.
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