Barcelona stated on Tuesday they have sacked sporting director Eric Abidal, a day right after dispensing with coach Quique Setien in response to exiting the Champions League final week with an eight-two drubbing by Bayern Munich.

Abidal, a double Champions League winner as a Barca player, had been in the function for in excess of two many years but has been allow go right after a single of the club’s worst seasons in latest memory, in which they also surrendered the league title to Genuine Madrid.

The Frenchman was also the target of criticism from Lionel Messi earlier this 12 months, who accused his former crew mate of blaming the squad for Ernesto Valverde finding sacked as coach final January.

Abidal joined Barca as a player in 2007 and grew to become a single of the club’s most common gamers for enduring a battle with cancer, which forced him to undergo a liver transplant in 2012.

“The club would publicly like to thank Éric Abidal for his professionalism, dedication, commitment and the shut and beneficial nature of his romance with all factors of the Barca family members,” the club stated in a statement.