Louis van Gaal cried like a baby after being sacked by Barcelona, says former player

Former Barcelona player Philippe Christanval revealed that Louis van Gaal had cried like a baby when he got sacked during his second foray with the Catalans. The Dutchman was relieved from his services in 2003 after only a two year stint, were he failed to win any major honours and was shown the door after a 2-0 loss to Celta Vigo.

Van Gaal won two league titles and the Copa del Rey with Barcelona in his first stint at the club but failed to replicate the success in his second spell and was unceremoniously shown the door. The Dutchman led Netherlands to the semi-finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup later in his career, along with winning the Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich. He moved to Manchester United in 2014 and ended his tenure two years later with an FA Cup to show for his efforts.

"He came into the dressing room after hearing the news, started to talk, and all of a sudden began crying like a baby," former France centre-back Christanval told SRF, as quoted by the Mirror. "He was really hurt. It impacted me seeing him cry. He was a hard, cold, person, and here he was destroyed."

Van Gaal has been replaced by his protégé Jose Mourinho this season at Manchester United and the Portuguese manager has started the season well, winning three of the opening four games, with his only defeat coming against Manchester City under new manager Pep Guardiola. United's financial figures released also revealed the club paid out £8.4m ($11m) in compensation following the dismissals of Van Gaal and his back-room team, consisting of goalkeeping coach Frans Hoek, Albert Stuivenberg (assistant coach) and Max Reckers (performance analyst).

The Red Devils face Watford in the league next, having suffered a European loss to Feyenoord in their opening group game. Wayne Rooney is expected to be back in the line-up after being left out against the Dutch side, in a bid to freshen up the squad.