Henrik Larsson has criticised Barcelona's treatment of his old boss Ronald Koeman five months after the Dutchman was sacked by the club.
Larsson was one of the heroes of Barcelona's 2006 Champions League triumph and returned to the club as assistant coach to Koeman when he was appointed in August 2020.
Barca came close to winning the Spanish last title last season before a late collapse following a shock home defeat to Granada, prompting plenty of speculation Koeman would be removed.
But after weeks of uncertainty he was allowed to continue in the role for the next season, only to be sacked in October on the flight home from defeat to minnows Rayo Vallecano.
Koeman was succeeded by club legend Xavi, who after a slow start has gotten Barca firing again, winning seven of their last 10 La Liga games while remaining unbeaten since early December.
Speaking to Swedish website Fotbollskanalen, Larsson took issue with president Joan Laporta for not supporting the coaching staff.
"Of course it was turbulent. During the first season it was all good until we lost to Granada at home. After that we felt that there was less support from upstairs, after Laporta become president," he said.
"And that is how it continued until the summer. We went on our summer holidays and I didn’t know whether I would carry on the following season."
Larsson felt Koeman, whose free-kick strike delivered Barcelona's first ever European Cup in 1992, deserved better than the way he was treated by Laporta.
And he said Lionel Messi's shock departure had a huge impact on the team as they made a terrible start to the new campaign, leading to Koeman's dismissal along with the rest of the coaching staff.
"We got a decision on that very late. That’s a shame. For me it doesn’t matter too much but to treat Ronald Koeman like that, he did not deserve that," Larsson added.
"After all the work we had done, the clean out that Ronald had done to make things possible, then I don’t think he deserved not being told.
"You never thought that Messi would leave the club and it had an effect on the whole squad. It was a tough time but as a coach you have to try to turn off the outside noise and know that you are there to work.
"There were days when we went there and didn’t know whether it was our last day or whether we would continue. That could have been easily avoided but that would have demanded much better leadership than what Laporta showed."
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