Hansi Flick urges Barcelona to stay focused as they inch closer to La Liga title

BARCELONA – Barcelona manager Hansi Flick urged his players to remain focused and avoid any premature celebration, as they moved to the brink of the La Liga title with a thrilling 4-3 victory over Real Madrid on May 11.

The Catalans overcame a two-goal deficit as they earned their fourth consecutive win over their arch-rivals in all competitions this season.

Barcelona, now seven points clear at the top, could secure the La Liga title as early as May 14 if Real fail to win at Mallorca. However, regardless of Real’s result, a Barcelona victory in their city derby against Espanyol on May 15 would clinch the championship for Flick’s men.

“I don’t feel like we are champions yet and I believe my players think the same way,” the coach said.

“It would be nice to win the La Liga and Copa del Rey double and, yes, one win is enough for us to do it. But this is football. Sure, we are in a good position but you never know what will happen. We have three matches ahead of us and all our rivals want to beat us, so we must remain focused.”

The German praised his players for their resilience in fighting back from two early goals by Kylian Mbappe to secure a crucial win that left Carlo Ancelotti’s Real on the verge of a trophyless season.

Mbappe completed his hat-trick in the 70th minute but before that Eric Garcia, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha (two goals) all scored after Barca trailed 0-2.

“It was not easy to recover after going down 2-0, but the mentality of the team is just remarkable, how they are always looking to attack relentlessly. It’s nice to see them out there on the pitch,” Flick added.

He also said that after last week’s heartbreaking extra-time loss to Inter Milan that saw them exit the Champions League in the semi-finals, the win was a statement of his players’ grit and resiliency.

“It’s fantastic. And it’s all to do with training, how they like to compete with each other. You can see it in the training sessions. In the last four months it has not been easy due to the relentless schedule. I’m proud of the mentality and the attitude of my team.”

Flick had high praise as well for 17-year-old Yamal, who was a constant threat on the right and scored a stunning equaliser in the first half.

“He is doing great. He has confidence in himself. He’s also very clever,” he said.

“For me, what’s important is that after the games he looks forward. His goal was crucial and at 17 years old, he has so many qualities.”
REUTERS