Despite being suspended, Hansi Flick wanted to come out and show his face at a press conference after the KO against Atlético. The Barça coach was proud of his team’s image and assured that after the Christmas break his Barça will return stronger and demonstrate all the potential it has.
“We played incredible, we had many chances and this is what I want. Of course I’m disappointed with the result, but it also shows that Atlético is an experienced team that defends very well. “What we have shown is the style we want,” said the German.
“We will not give up, we will return, we will train harder and the team will show that it can score more goals,” Flick commented on the lack of effectiveness in the rival area. “We have to focus more on scoring goals, we had clear chances that we missed and this always has to do with scoring goals,” he reflected.
Flick assured that he has no problem with what happened against a team “of the same level” as Barça and he did remember the points lost against Las Palmas and Leganés. “Those points that we lost do bother me. We gave away nine points at home and that is too much,” he noted.
Asked about the bittersweet Christmas that Barcelona fans will spend, Hansi believes that the ‘break’ comes at a good time. “We all need this break. It comes at a good time. I told the players that I liked how we played. But we must be smarter and learn from what happened,” he said.
Flick was referring to Sorloth’s 1-2 counter. “You don’t have to lose the ball there. I was in my place there in the stands and I could see what was happening,” he said regarding the visitors’ ‘in extremis’ goal.
The coach, who reiterated that he is not worried about his team despite losing the lead, had praise for Pedri and Gavi. “Gavi brought a lot of passion to the game, he wins duels, he doesn’t stop running,” he said about the Andalusian. Regarding Pedri, Flick commented on his great attitude on a day-to-day basis. “He is very professional, he takes care of himself, he trains a lot, he always works extra… It is good to see that he is at this level. The goal was incredible. He is only 22 years old but he is on the right path,” he declared.
Flick also referred to how he has experienced these two games in the stands because of being sent off against Betis. “It was a horrible experience. I can’t describe in words what I felt not being able to sit on the bench. It wasn’t fair, that’s what I can say. I will have to handle the issue of controlling emotions on the bench when I return,” he explained.
As a summary of the first half of the League, Flick was constructive, did not want comparisons with Bayern and recalled how proud he is to coach Barça. “When I go every day at 6:30 in the morning to the Ciudad Deportiva I feel very happy to be there. I told ‘Tapa’ -Toni Tapalovic-. “It is a pleasure to train these players,” commented Flick, who described his first months as “fantastic.”