Flick says Barca need to eliminate mistakes after stumbling

Text size

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick warned his team that they must not make any more mistakes ahead of their Champions League clash against French club Brest on Tuesday.

The Spanish league leaders are looking to bounce back from defeat at Real Sociedad and a draw at Celta Vigo in their last two games.

Barcelona let a two-goal lead slip in the closing stages against Celta on Saturday and Flick said his young team, which has beaten Bayern Munich in Europe and rivals Real Madrid in La Liga, needed to take another step forward.

“It’s about eliminating the errors, that’s important,” said Flick at a press conference on Monday.

“We need to do a lot better with the ball and that’s the focus.”

The German coach said Barcelona should have defended better after playing with just 10 men against Celta Vigo to preserve their two-goal lead following Marc Casado’s dismissal.

“We have a young team, I think it is the youngest team in La Liga. It’s not always a highway where you drive at high speed, you have to be careful in some situations,” the coach continued.

“We have to learn that – if we are 2-0 up, we have to defend much better than before with the red card.”

Barcelona are sixth in the Champions League table with three wins and one loss from four games, but Brest, who visit on Tuesday, are a point ahead of them in fourth despite being 12th in Ligue 1 .

Brest scored an impressive 4-0 win in Salzburg, among other positive results, and the game against Barcelona gives them a chance to take a big lead.

“They are doing really well, they deserved their 10 points and the way they played against Salzburg was good,” said Flick.

“In the Champions League they are in flow, in the league they are having a bit of a hard time. They are a good team.”

Barcelona will be without teenage winger Lamine Yamal, who is still recovering from an ankle injury, while Flick said left-back Alejandro Balde was also not fit enough to start.

Barcelona defender Inigo Martinez also expressed frustration at the team’s loss of the lead at Celta.

“It was hard to digest, it was a game that we had some control over – we let crucial points go to waste,” Martinez told reporters.

“Physically we have a very difficult opponent in front of us, they are doing very well in the Champions League.”

“If we come out relaxed tomorrow, it could cost us dearly.”

The 33-year-old centre-back said that when Barcelona were at their best, even well-prepared opponents would struggle to beat them.

“Opponents obviously study Barca’s games and analyze them, just like we do with our opponents,” he continued.

“It depends on how we press and how intense we are. If our pressing is good, it is very difficult to beat us.”

rbs/jc