FC Barcelona delivered a 'historic' blow on Wednesday night with a memorable 'thrashing' by Bayern Munich at Montjuïc. At the end of the match, Hansi Flick spoke to the media at a press conference and did not hide his happiness, praising his team's performance and 'surrendering' to players such as Raphinha and Marc Casadó.
A special match for Flick
"It's incredible. Bayern is a wonderful team, with fantastic players. You want to see them play. If you win this type of match, you have to celebrate. It gives us confidence for Saturday's match," began an elated Flick, who when asked if he was satisfied with the result could not hide his joy.
"I'm almost 10 points happy. The three points, the game was great. After the first goal, we had 10 or 15 minutes in which we struggled, but it's good to see the team recover. We have a young squad. We have to reach our potential. We try to play better every game"
However, and despite the overwhelming result, the Barça coach did not comment on whether Barça are candidates for the title. "It's still early and the season has just started. There's still a long way to go, we prepare and think about each game, knowing that there's still a lot to improve," he explained.
The names of the game according to Flick
Although he normally highlights the team's performance, Flick took the opportunity to praise Marc Casadó, whose performance was extremely outstanding. "Casadó is an incredible player. If you see him play now and you know where he comes from, from Barça B, how much he has improved. He is very good in defence and also with the ball at his feet," he said.
"It's La Masia and I'm very happy. In the second half we continued to play and had control for many minutes, we managed to keep the ball," added the German, sending a nod to the Barça youth team.
In addition, Hansi highlighted the figure of Raphinha, the great protagonist of the night with his hat trick. "He is a great player, he works very well with the team. He always gives his all in training and plays with great intensity. He is very important for us, he handles pressure very well and is in a very good dynamic," said the German in the press room.
"I'm very happy to be here. We shouldn't think about the past but about the present. We've seen that the team is young, but it's ready for this type of challenge. With Olmo, Frenkie, Gavi, who have come out and done very well, we're stronger. We have a great squad that enjoys playing football and I really like the support of the people, what they give us on the street," added Flick about his team.
Flick's feelings ahead of the Clásico
Asked about the match against Real Madrid next Saturday, Flick didn't go beyond making assessments. "I'm not thinking about the match at the Santiago Bernabéu. Today is time to celebrate and we'll think about the Clásico tomorrow," he said.
However, he made it clear that he believes that the Barça players will not notice the physical strain they suffered against Bayern Munich: "The team is aware of the match against Real Madrid. There are days left and we'll see how the players recover, but I think we're very well prepared," he concluded.