World Soccer

Fernando Bustamante (AP)

Frank Rijkaard saw the curtain come down on his five-year spell as Barcelona coach on Saturday with his final match one to remember as Giovani dos Santos bagged a hat-trick in a 5-3 win over Real Murcia.

Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry also scored for Barcelona’s second in nine games, which ensured the team will finish the season in third place.

The game at Murcia’s Nueva Condomina Stadium marked Rijkaard’s final league appearance of a five-year stint in which he led the team to two league titles and the 2006 Champions League.

The Dutchman’s last match is on May 26, when Barcelona plays a friendly with Al Ittihad in Saudi Arabia, before his replacement by reserve team coach Pep Guardiola,

Barcelona finished with 67 points from 38 games. Champion Real Madrid has 82, eight more than runner-up Villarreal.

“It has been a great honour for me,” Rijkaard said. “I prefer to focus on the lovely things I have experienced, the people I have worked with, the friendship with people I will carry with me in my heart forever.

“I take responsibility for what has happened. We set goals but unfortunately we could not reach them. There has been a lot of talk about the president (Joan Laporta) but he can’t score the goals on the pitch.”

Rijkaard, 45, arrived at Barca in 2003 after managerial spells with Sparta Rotterdam and the Dutch national team and he found a Barca side in transition.

His inspirational signings of Deco, Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o pushed the club forward and league titles in 2005 and 2006 were capped by the 2-1 Champions League victory over Arsenal in the same year.

After setting such high standards Rijkaard’s Barca then seemed to lose their way and in 2007 they gifted the title to Real after leading for most of the season.

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