Barcelona manager Hansi Flick addressed the media ahead of their clash with Atletico Madrid on Saturday night. The winner of the clash will finish the year in top position, and Flick has made it clear that his players need to make the least mistakes will come out victorious.
"You see in the match against Dortmund, we did really good, we created two or three chances, we have to be ready again. They score a lot of goals at the end, so we have to be concentrated until the end."
🗣️Hansi Flick on fast starts and keeping concentration. #Barca #Atletico pic.twitter.com/a8rVpQti0A
— Football España (@footballespana_) December 20, 2024
Flick confirmed that Hector Fort and Andreas Christensen would miss out against Atletico, joining Lamine Yamal, Marc Bernal and Marc-Andre ter Stegen on the touchline, but Ansu Fati will be back in the squad. The German manager has not yet made a decision who will replace him with.
“It’s an injury, we have to accept it, we have not made the decision yet. We will decide tomorrow,” he said on Lamine Yamal’s injury.
Flick gave a much more general assessment of his side too, explaining that he was happy with their progress.
“When we started this project, I think if you said on the 20th of December we will be first in La Liga and second in the Champions League, we have taken it. We’ve lost some points, it’s a shame, because we should have won against Leganes and Las Palmas.”
“The team who will make less mistakes will normally win, tomorrow is another match, another chance to win. We have good team, a young team, but we can also improve. We will fight to the end of the season, we want to reach the big things this season, but we know it’s not easy.”
Flick also noted Barcelona’s strong record against the biggest sides, including victories over Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
“Against big teams this season, I think we’re doing really well, so I hope that continues.”
Raphinha: "What I think is we have to approach every game, every team, like the most powerful team in the world. If we did that, I think we would be much more focused, to defend together, attack together and more focused to score goals."
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 20, 2024
The German coach would go on to emphasize that his side had to fight and would fight hard for the points on Saturday at 21:00 CEST at Montjuic. Barcelona and Atletico are level on points currently, although Los Rojiblancos have a game in hand.