Ernesto was good and consistent in the league, except after Anfield when the whole team just collapsed and didn't recover all next season. Nearly everybody saw that. It all went to shit from there and we were starting to get outplayed by fecking Levante, Osasuna, and Granada in Spain. Quique Setien, who was indeed terrible, made more points than him that season.
So there are levels between what Valverde showed before Anfield and after Anfield, even in La Liga (EV was poor in CL all around). The only difference between Valverde and Setien at Barca - IN THAT EXACT PLACE, not two years before where Messi was scoring for fun - is that Valverde would've lost the Bayern game 5-0 instead of 8-2.
EV would've no doubt lost La Liga last season. It's easy to see. We were going down in form big time compared to last season, and Madrid were going up, improving and winning more points as the season progressed. That's why EV was sacked in the first place, the team was going from bad to worse and Madrid kept improving, unlike their previous 2 dud domestic seasons.