Hansi Flick steps up and fills Barça with hope despite the defeat

The FC Barcelona experienced a dark night last Saturday against Atlético de Madrid in Montjuïc. Despite dominating their rivals throughout the match, the Catalans saw how the mattress makers came back from a 1-0 deficit to take the three points and the lead in LaLiga. At the end of the match, Hansi Flick addressed the media in a press conference and assessed the defeat against the red and whites.

"We played a great match. I am very proud of my players but very disappointed with the result. Atlético is a very experienced team and took advantage of their opportunity. It was a very frustrating match. Pedri played incredibly, as did Gavi. This is how we want to play. We will come back strong after the holidays", the coach began, expressing satisfaction with his team despite the result.

"It was a fantastic match. Not scoring is a problem but it was a fantastic match"

"It's not the same as what happened against Las Palmas or Leganés. We made two mistakes and they took advantage of them. The break will do us good. We need to learn and play more intelligently. The quality of the game, I have nothing to say. Everyone has seen it. The one who scores the most goals wins. Dropping ten points at home is not normal and we will have to work on this", he continued.

The loss of the LaLiga lead

Despite losing the lead in LaLiga after the defeat against Atleti, Flick assured that "I am not worried. We played very well. We started very well in the first two months, then we lost many points and now we are second. But we are doing a good job. Today we saw it".

When asked whether the youth of the squad is one of the causes of Barça's crisis in the league competition, the German maintained that "we already knew it was young. But I am delighted. When I go to train, I do it happily. We are very happy".

"It is a satisfaction to train these players, they love to train and compete" 

"Today everyone was very frustrated and the atmosphere was not the best. But football is like this, so is life. But we will come back", he stated.

When questioned about whether he is concerned about the defeats against teams like Las Palmas and Leganés, Flick assured that "we play the matches to win them, if you don't want to win anymore, you better not play football. The six points lost against Leganés and Las Palmas do not worry me because they are in the past".

"In the upcoming home matches, we have to win them all, this is where we need to focus. Today we saw the capacity we have to play. After the break, which we all need, we will train and show how strong we are. Today we are all disappointed by the defeat", he continued.

The performance of Pedri and Gavi

Flick also praised Pedri, whose spectacular performance earned him the MVP of the match. "Pedri is very professional and trains a lot. He takes great care of himself physically, does extra training and additional treatments. It is fantastic to see him at this level. On the field, you also see him directing his teammates. He is 22 years old and is on the right track", he commented.

Finally, the German coach also wanted to highlight the level of Gavi, who returned to be a starter in a highly demanding match. "He has taken a big step forward. He has a lot of passion and that helps the team a lot. It is nice to see that he has come back strong", he concluded.