Speaking at the press conference together with Fermín López, the Barcelona coach Hansi Flick presented the Champions League away match against Red Star, valid on the fourth day of the tournament: “In this new Champions League, it is very important to win. We know it will be a difficult match. We know that Red Star has a good team, He has a good attack, but our goal is to win.”
Lots of offsides committed: “The statistics don’t worry me. Our idea is to play football, we have the team very well connected in the three lines. The team, as a whole, is having a good moment and I hope that tomorrow they will also do the best they can. We have pressure , but we want to win. We want the ball.”
Hangover-Clasico: “I told the team that the derby is over. In these last months, we have had a good level. Even in the derby. But I have been a player and I know what happens when you are already 3-0 ahead. But this is a new competition , the new Champions League, and everyone knows how important it is to win. We want to be among the eight best and go straight to the round of 16. The team is fine, focused on this. We know what to improve on. Tomorrow we will play a very good match, different from the second half Derby”.
On the management of Gavi after the injury: “I don’t know when he will be able to play more. We will go step by step. I talked about it with him and we both think the same way. It also depends on the context of the match. The derby is an example, we will go little by little. But his recovery is going well.”
On rapid adaptation in the world of Barcelona: “Before arriving, we had already analyzed the team as a whole. Every player. We saw that there was a lot of quality. And we wanted to focus on small changes. The players appreciated them and work on them. When we started to implement the our technique, they helped us. In America it went well. The players like how we play, but there are still things to improve, and this is our job.”
The question of goalkeepers: “Szczesny has been here for not even a month, but when I spoke to him I saw that he wanted to come. He is an exceptional person, he helps Iñaki Peña and the other young players. It is ideal to have him in the team. When we need him, he will be ready. Our goal was to have a player like him, with experience, who can help the other goalkeepers. Iñaki is a great young goalkeeper and has a great personality. He will be an important player in tomorrow’s match.
On the ambition of winning the Champions League: “There’s a lot of hard work to do. There are other good teams that want the same thing. In the end, you have to concentrate on working hard and we’ll see what happens. We’d like to win it, clearly, and win every game.”
How many points are needed to access the best eight of the Champions League: “We haven’t calculated how many points we need. This can vary a lot. We need to focus on winning and then we’ll see. I’m not sure what position we occupy. It’s not important how we start, but how we finish. I think our goal is to be among the first eight”.
Finally, on Fermín López’s performances, Flick instead wanted to judge the team’s collective work: “I have a fantastic team. The staff we know each other and we work very well together. Everyone does a great job, but the players are playing really well. Every session is spectacular. When we want something from them, they do it. It’s incredible. It’s a great feeling. Not just the young people, even the veterans. We are all connected, on and off the pitch.”