Barcelona are back in Champions League action on Wednesday as they prepare to take on Benfica in the first leg of their round of 16 tie at the Estadio Da Luz in Lisbon.
Ahead of the match, Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has been speaking to the media. As per MD, he reflected on the task at hand for his side, and also spoke on learning from the last fixture between the two teams, which saw the Catalans win 5-4 in a Champions League classic.
“You have to think that there is a return leg, obviously. We are facing one of the best teams in the tournament, they play very well. The goal is to play better than them. They have their idea of the game and we have ours. Tomorrow we’ll see what happens. I hope to see a better dynamic from the start than in the previous visit. It will be a difficult match.”
Barcelona are considered to be one of the favourites to win the competition, which they have not achieved success in since 2015. However, Flick is not thinking this far ahead, with his focus being solely on Wednesday night.
“I always think about the next game, and it’s Benfica. I don’t think it’s good to talk about this, to go further. We start at 0-0 and we have to give everything in every game. The rivals also want to beat us.”
Flick was also asked about recent speculation linking Neymar Junior with a return to Barcelona in the summer, eight years after he left for Paris Saint-Germain in a world-record deal. The German head coach was not interested in discussing the matter, which he does not consider to be relevant to him.
“It’s not my job. I’m very focused on this team and on the season. You have to be focused on the competition. The rest is the task of other people at the club, not mine.”
