FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta still has “absolute confidence” in his head coach Hansi Flick … [+]
According to SPORT, which cited anonymous sources, FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta still has “absolute confidence” in his head coach Hansi Flick despite the Catalans’ first team falling to its third consecutive La Liga home defeat against Atletico Madrid in Montjuic on Saturday.
Barca and Atleti went into the mammoth clash level on points at the summit of the Spanish top flight table.
Yet while the Blaugrana had suffered back to back defeats to relative minnows Las Palmas and Leganes, Diego Simeone’s men were on a 12-win streak and also had a game in hand.
As many as six points clear following a 4-0 demolition of Real Madrid in El Clasico as October drew to a close, Barca is now at risk of being the same amount of points behind in the title race itself after going 1-0 up through Pedri yet succumbing to second half goals from Rodrigo de Paul and Alexander Sorloth to lose 2-1 in chastening defeat that Raphinha took the blame for.
Speaking post-match at his press conference, Flick said that it “was really unbelievable how we play.”
“This is how I want to see my team. I am proud. It shows also that Atletico is an experienced team and they are just waiting for this and for them it’s enough.
“I think our style, how we want to play, it was really great – fantastic. It’s really disappointing that we have nothing in our hands [from the game], this is the big disappointment.
“I said to the team I really appreciate how we play. Maybe we have to play more intelligent. We were punished for maybe two mistakes, we have to learn about these things, but this, for me, is the way.
“The quality we played, how we played … I think everyone here in the room can see this. This is also the style how Barca want to play, how they want to dominate, but at the end it’s football and the team who scores more goal wins,” Flick further explained.
SPORT reported that Laporta “ended the match against Atletico very angry”, but that was more about the final result than how the team played.
Despite five defeats suffered in 2024/2025 so far, which is the same amount of losses Flick’s fired predecessor Xavi Hernandez notched in the whole of 2023/2024, confidence in the German remains “absolute”.
“The club transmits calm, convinced that the situation will be reversed in January, when there are already titles at stake,” the paper adds, in a nod to the Spanish Super Cup.
By perhaps getting past Athletic Club in the semifinals, and then beating Real Madrid or Mallorca in the final, Flick and his men can reinstall faith in the Barca project among Culers and the press.
