8-2 Demolition: Messi Asks Barca To Sack Coach Setien, Hire Pochettino

'Dotun Akintomide
Writer

Ad

King Charles, Pope Leo pray together in historic first

King Charles III on Thursday became the first head of the Church of England to pray publicly with a pope since the schism with Rome 500 years ago, in a service led by Leo XIV. The 76-year-old monarch and his wife, Queen Camilla, joined the US-born pope in the Sistine Chapel for a 30-minute service…

Tears as Ghana’s Ex-First Lady Nana Konadu Rawlings Dies at 76

By Abiola Olawale Ghana is shrouded in grief on Thursday, October 23, 2025, following the passing of a former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, who died at the age of 76 in Accra. ​Sources close to the family confirmed that the former First Lady, the widow of the late President Jerry John Rawlings, passed away…

PDP Crisis: BoT Members Dismiss Anyanwu’s Forgery Claims,  Says It’s “Baseless and Misleading”

The internal crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has continued to deepen following a sharp rebuttal from the party's Board of Trustees (BoT) against allegations of signature forgery made by its National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu. ​The BoT, in a statement issued on Thursday, dismissed Anyanwu's claims as "baseless, misleading, and reprehensible," insisting the…

Ad

By Oyinlola Awonuga (The New Diplomat’s Entertainment, Fashion and Sports Desk)

Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi, has reportedly called for the hiring of former Tottenham Hotspur coach, Mauricio Pochettino as manager, to replace underfire Quique Setien following the humiliating 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

According to Catalan Sports newspaper, Messi has already approved Pochettino as the next manager of Barcelona to the club’s president, Josep Bartomeu and has been doing his best to persuade the 48-year-old Argentine to take over at Camp Nou.

Bartomeu is now set to bring Pochettino in, believing the former Spurs boss to be the right man to replace Setien, who took over from Ernesto Valverde in January, at this moment in time.

Messi saw Barcelona thrashed 8-2 by their Bundesliga counterparts in the Champions League last-8 final tie on Friday night in Portugal.

Thomas Muller and Philippe Coutinho both scored braces for Bayern, with Ivan Perisic, Serge Gnabry, Joshua Kimmich and Robert Lewandowski also on target.

Barcelona did strike through an own-goal from David Alaba and Luis Suarez’s second-half strike.

Ad

X whatsapp