For the third game in a row in La Liga, FC Barcelona failed to pick up a victory as they fell to a 1-2 loss at the hands of relegation-battlers Las Palmas at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys today.
After a rather uninspiring first half, during which the Catalans lost Alejandro Balde to injury, they were pegged back early in the second period as ex-Barcelona star Sandro Ramirez put the visitors in front.
Raphinha pulled things back for the Blaugrana but the parity did not last for long though as Fabio Silva scored the eventual winner for Las Palmas.
Hansi Flick not happy with the performance
Speaking to the media after the match, Barcelona manager Hansi Flick did not mince any words as he said that his team just did not play well enough on the afternoon against Las Palmas.
The manager was in particular critical of the players’ failure to capitalise on the chances that they created, as he said:
“We didn’t play well. The team tried to get a good result, but today was not our day. We were not effective and did not take advantage of the chances we had.”
Continuing, the German tactician added: “We created some chances in the second half, but we usually create more.”
Discussing what has gone wrong for the Catalans in La Liga, where they are now three games without a win, Flick remarked:
“When we control the games, when we have that situation we are able to play well and generate chances, but when we don’t, this is our problem. Before it was easier because we generated them and scored goals, but now it’s not like that.
“Today we didn’t score those goals and we have to change. We have to defend better and if you don’t score a goal, it’s more difficult to keep a clean sheet. It’s not a defence thing, it’s a whole team thing.
“Now we have to get back and reconnect. We have difficult games in LaLiga, then the Dortmund game….”
On being asked if Marc Casado’s absence and Gavi’s presence in the starting XI influenced the performance, he replied:
“I don’t want to talk about any particular player, we could have played better as a team. And that’s why we didn’t win.”
Talking about Lamine Yamal, who made his return today after recovering from his injury, Flick said:
“After two weeks without training with the team, it’s good that he can come back and play a few minutes, also in view of the next game against Mallorca. It’s positive that he has played 45 minutes and can presumably play as a starter against Mallorca.”
Source: MARCA