Barcelona

BARCELONA — New Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman is expected to oversee a massive overhaul of the squad as he leads them into a new era after their weaknesses were exposed in the 8-2 thrashing by Bayern Munich, president Josep Maria Bartomeu has said.

Koeman, one of Barca's greatest ever players who was confirmed as the club's new coach on Wednesday, will oversee the transition alongside Ramon Planes, the new chief technical secretary after Eric Abidal left the club.

The transfer rumor mill has been swirling following Barcelona's embarrassing defeat to Bayern Munich on Friday, as many of the club's top players have been linked with moves away from the Catalan club.

Friday’s 8-2 humiliation against Bayern Munich will undoubtedly see heads roll at Barcelona, from dead man walking Quique Setién to the elderly cohort of Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Luis Suárez and Ivan Rakitić. 

But the biggest question mark remains the future of Lionel Messi, who dictates his own future following the most humiliating defeat in Barça history. 

Mauricio Pochettino once said he would rather return to his ranch in Argentina than coach Barcelona, yet he is now the top candidate to be their next manager as they look to the future after Friday's 8-2 drubbing by Bayern Munich.

Quique Setien is certain to be sacked after Barca were humiliated in the Champions League quarter-final, a result which completed a miserable season, as for the first time since 2014 they failed to win a major trophy.

LISBON — For the first time in 13 years, there is no Spanish team in the semifinals of the Champions League and the way in which Barcelona were dumped out, with an 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich, emphatically ended the era of LaLiga supremacy.

There was one basic similarity in the way that Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid exited Europe this season — they simply looked too slow.

It is not that their players individually lack speed but that their styles of play lack the intensity and dynamism, the relentless pressing of the top German and English teams.

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said radical changes were needed from top to bottom after his side were annihilated 8-2 by Bayern Munich on Friday to exit the Champions League in one of the Catalan side's darkest ever nights.

"We feel devastated, although shame is the real word I'm looking for. We cannot afford to compete like this because it's not the first, the second or the third time that something like this has happened," a tearful Pique told reporters after the quarter-final drubbing, their worst ever result in Europe.

It’s impossible to forget Germany’s epic six-goal beatdown of Brazil at the 2014 World Cup. But for those who missed it, the first half of the Barcelona-Bayern Munich Champions League quarterfinal on Friday was a pretty good reenactment.

Bayern Munich relentlessly breached Barcelona’s vulnerable defense en route to a 4-1 halftime lead in Lisbon, stunning a Blaugrana side not used to facing such an onslaught.