Barcelona spell the worst year of my career, says Martino

• Gerardo Martino did not much enjoy his time in charge of Barcelona, which lasted just nine months.

Mexico head coach Gerardo Martino says his season in charge of Barcelona was the worst of his career.

Martino took over at Camp Nou from Tito Vilanova in July 2013 and enjoyed a positive start, winning the Supercopa de Espana on away goals against Atletico Madrid.

Barca started the LaLiga season with a 7-0 thrashing of Levante before winning his first Clasico 2-1 at home to Real Madrid in October.

The season ended in disappointment, though, with Atletico pipping Barca to the title after holding them to a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou on the final day of the league season, having lost the Copa del Rey final to Real Madrid a month earlier.

Martino, who stepped down after the Atletico draw, says it was trying to get the best out of the squad while attempting to embrace their stylistic traditions that made life difficult.

"From the results side of things, it wasn't a bad year," he said, as quoted by Sport. "We won a trophy and we played in a final, but at Barcelona what matters is how many trophies you win.

"However, I say it was my worst year because my contribution as coach started and finished with the management of the team.

"There were concerns that my management had a short life and, for me, the Clasico against Real Madrid that we won 2-1 at home was key.

"We scored the second goal running into space and if Barcelona ran into space, it was because something did not fit together.

"But I understand that, if we could add anything to the team, it was not to deny the possibility of running.

"Speed was going to make Barcelona more complete because when there were lapses in the dominance of the opposition, it was good to go back and move into space. That was carried out the following year, with Luis Enrique."

Published 29 May 2020, 23:16 IST