FC Barcelona had a comfortable night in Montjuïc. The blaugranas easily defeated Betis (5-1) and secured their qualification to the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey. In the press conference after the match, Hansi Flick confessed that "today's match was very important for us. We came from a trip, we only trained yesterday because we couldn't do it on Monday. And I am happy with the performance we had".
The azulgrana coach innovated with the inclusion of Dani Olmo as a 'false 9' in the starting eleven, and when asked about the performance of the player from Egar in this position, he assured that "he can play as a '9'. He has done it in the National Team. We have talked. Lewandowski was not an option for today because we wanted him to rest. I think the match was nice to watch for us".
"These young players from La Masia are incredible, how they play"
Additionally, he praised Pedri and his teammates from La Masia. "He is everywhere. It is nice to see how they combine. Pedri has a great performance in every match. If we look at the data, he always covers many kilometers. Sometimes, the battle is tough and we need him", he commented, before assuring that Lamine Yamal "is in a great moment. We have to take care of him, but he is brilliant".
The future of Araujo and the absence of Ansu Fati
On the other hand, Flick spoke about the future of Ronald Araujo at Barça, as after seeing his stay at the club threatened due to the tempting offer from Juventus, the center-back has decided to renew his contract with the azulgrana entity.
"Yes, he has a contract for another year and a half. I have never doubted that. We will see what the future holds for us. For now, we have seen how people celebrated his return"
Finally, the German cleared the air regarding the absence of Ansu Fati, who has been left out of the squad for the third consecutive match. "The team is in shape, we have fewer injured players and I have to decide based on what I see in training. I already said yesterday that he started well, he got injured in pre-season, then again. And he has to train and show that he is improving. That is the situation", he concluded.