Louis van Gaal "cried like a baby" when he was sacked by Barcelona, according to Philippe Christanval.
Van Gaal, whose tenure at Manchester United come to an end after last season, was fired by the Camp Nou side in January 2003.
Christanval - a centre-back for Barca at the time - revealed the Dutchman broke down when giving the players the news.
"He came into the dressing room after hearing the news, started to talk, and all of a sudden began crying like a baby," Christanval told SRF.
"He was really hurt. It impacted me seeing him cry. He was a hard, cold person - and here he was destroyed."
After leaving Barcelona, Van Gaal rebuilt his reputation by leading AZ to the Eredivisie title, before coaching Bayern Munich and Netherlands, who he led to the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup.
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