Barcelona manager Hansi Flick was openly critical of youngsters Ansu Fati and Hector Fort for their reactions as the Blaugrana completed a comeback from two goals down against Celta Vigo on Saturday. While he understood their frustration, Flick was not happy with their lack of self-control at Montjuic.
Fort and Fati both reacted angrily to not getting on, while Ferran Torres was frustrated by being withdrawn by Flick against Celta. The German manager was seen having a word with Fort on the pitch, and on Monday a report appeared claiming that the coaching staff were pleased to see that all of their players were keen to play.
However that was not the message that Flick sent during his pre-match press conference ahead of Barcelona’s Tuesday game with RCD Mallorca.
“Can I understand that they are not happy, disappointed or upset? Of course I can. I was also a professional player, I understand it. They also want to show that they can help the team, show that they can help us reach our goals. I totally can understand that.”
“Can I understand the reaction? No. It’s not like that, I don’t understand this. For me, you have to accept it. We won, we came back, it was a huge comeback from 3-1 behind. We were celebrating, and I think they were the right decisions. What I want to see is that when they are playing now, we want to see the right reaction. This is what is important, not the reaction after the match. I prefer to see the reaction on the pitch.”
Flick: “Ferran is very important. He’s in a very good moment of his career. He’s fast, but he can also control the ball and in defense he can support with his dynamics. I like to see it this way, but we have to manage him because we need him until the end of the season.”
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Flick hoped that their performances in recent weeks would serve sufficiently as a wake-up call for the Blaugrana.
“We don’t know what will happen. Watching Barca and Real Madrid’s games, they’ve been tough, against Celta and Athletic. La Liga is at a high level and the objective is not to drop points, but it’s not easy even if we do well. We saw that against Celta. I hope it’s a wake-up call… it’s a very long road. Real Madrid are a fantastic team and they also want to achieve their goals.”
And highlighted that the comeback against Celta had boosted morale.
“What’s important for me, is that we are always looking at ourselves and trying to improve. What happens after Dortmund and Celta, the important thing is that do things better. We have the quality to win against every team. The next thing is the Celta match, when we had the big comeback, what I saw today was a lot of positive energy.”
“This is the good thing, the team is in a good mood, so that’s the positive and we have to continue.”
Barcelona are in desperate need of a response beyond the comeback against Celta, with the Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid coming up on Saturday, followed by the semi-final of the Champions League against Inter, at least one of which will be without Robert Lewandowski. Since the international break, Barcelona’s best has only been seen in fits and bursts, most notably against Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, amid less impressive showings against Girona, Real Betis, Leganes and Dortmund in the return leg.
