Press turn on Van Gaal after cup defeat

The Spanish press this morning rounded on Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal may after his team's 3-2 cup defeat to third division…

The Spanish press this morning rounded on Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal may after his team's 3-2 cup defeat to third division tailenders Novelda.

Sports paper ASpublished a photograph of a policeman beside van Gaal in the dugout and titled "He must be arrested".

Several commentators ridiculed van Gaal's belief that the 16-time Spanish champions had not been humiliated.

"Novelda, a club from the Third Division, is a giant of a team and Madrigal, the hat-trick hero, is just like Ronaldo," one noted drily.

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Van Gaal blamed the defeat on individual errors and the smallness of the pitch - which he compared to a tennis court. Dutch defender Frank de Boer tried to switch the focus away from his own poor performance onto debutant German keeper Michael Enke who he blamed for the loss.

However the Catalan press would have none of it with both Mundo Deportivoand Sportlabelling the performance "intolerable".

"It is a torpedo into the good ship van Gaal," Sportopined. The Periodicoof Barcelona wasted little time in saying the defeat added further ammunition to those who had not welcomed the return of van Gaal.

"Their elimination from the Cup adds fuel to the fire of those who doubted the reliability of van Gaal's plans on his return to the club," it said.