Barcelona Hold 'Crisis Meeting' Following Copa del Rey Defeat as Faith in Ernesto Valverde's Wanes

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu scheduled an emergency crisis meeting following the club's disappointing end to the season, with manager Ernesto Valverde's future said to be a major talking point.

Despite securing La Liga title, Barcelona suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool to crash out of the Champions League, before a lacklustre performance saw them fall 2-1 to Valencia in the Copa del Rey final on Saturday.

Many fans have called for Valverde to be sacked as a result of the poor results and, according to The Sun, Bartomeu has called an emergency meeting to discuss what went wrong for the Blaugrana.

Valverde's future is currently up in the air, with many left stunned and concerned by the team's failures in recent weeks. The defeat to Liverpool, which saw Barcelona throw away a 3-0 advantage from the first leg, was one of the darkest days in recent memory for fans, and was viewed by many as simply unforgivable.

RAC1 journalist Gerard Romero also added on Twitter that many involved with the club, including players and staff, have begun to lose faith in Valverde as a result of the defeats, with many views of the manager taking a drastic turn for the worst in recent weeks. Catalan daily Mundo Deportivo echoes the other reports by saying the club has major doubts about the manager.

Indeed, just a few weeks ago, Bartomeu insisted that Valverde had the full support of the Barcelona board, although fresh concerns over the team's direction may now have left club officials feeling differently.

In his two years with the club, Valverde has secured two La Liga titles and the 2017/18 Copa del Rey trophy, but this has not been enough to convince many supporters that he deserves more time in the Camp Nou dugout.

Their failure to compete for the Champions League has been a huge problem. Barcelona's capitulation against Liverpool was not the first of it's kind, with Valverde's side throwing away a 4-1 lead against Roma in the quarter-finals of last season's competition, and it appears as though Bartomeu is now incredibly concerned about the team's future.