Barcelona fell to a dramatic defeat on Saturday night, conceding the winner to Atletico Madrid in stoppage time having dominated most of the game.
Manager Hansi Flick was largely positive about the defeat in the press room after the game though, and that message was echoed in the dressing room. Sport say that Flick told his players that they were on the right track again in spite of their defeat. He briefly mentioned some errors made in the winning goal, but attempted to lift their spirits.
Pedri González has been included in @WhoScored's La Liga team of the week. Congratulations! ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/dGtrSPIUAz
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 23, 2024
All the same, the message struggled to break through the disappointment. Several dressing room heavyweights such as Inigo Martinez, Pedri and Raphinha were visibly down after the game, and Flick’s team talk did little for them. Overall, morale is low, with Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski frustrated with their own form, and others like Frenkie de Jong and Ronald Araujo frustrated with their lack of minutes.
Flick stressed a similar message in their planned recovery session on Sunday, but in the end, the German coach only spoke to his players for a few minutes. The squad is in need of the Christmas break, and a break from football.
The last month has been disastrous for Barcelona in terms of their title hopes, but now a point of inflection awaits the Catalan giants. If Flick’s message loses power in January, then it could be difficult for him to turn things around. Against Atletico his players responded, but without the result to go with it, it meant little – at least in the eyes of the players.