Flick praises Yamal's 'special moments' as superb goal helps seal title
Video credit: TNT Sports
Hansi Flick believes the "unique" atmosphere inside the Barcelona dressing room has played a key role in them winning La Liga.
The Catalan side clinched their 28th league title on Thursday night, thanks to a [2-0 derby victory over Espanyol](https://www.tntsports.co.uk/football/la-liga/2024-2025/live-rcd-espanyol-fc-barcelona_mtc1524333/live-commentary.shtml), which took them seven points clear of Real Madrid with just two games to go.
With the Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup already in the bag, the victory sealed a domestic treble for head coach Flick in his first season in charge at the club.
The former Germany and Bayern Munich manager has placed an emphasis on team spirit since he arrived in Spain and told reporters after Thursday’s win that he has "never" experienced an atmosphere like the one in the Barcelona dressing room.
The German said: "This is, for me, the most important thing. You feel like a family, it's fantastic. Everyone in this club has his job and he's doing great with a lot of passion, with a really good attitude and mentality.
"Everyone knows how important this is for this club, for this team, and this helps me a lot to reach our goals."
Yamal illuminates UCL semi-final with magic feet - ‘Box of tricks’
Video credit: TNT Sports
Flick added: "And of course, the players, the atmosphere in the dressing room. This is so great. I never had this before, it's really fantastic to see this.
"Everyone takes care of each other, and it's really good to see. So this is maybe in a small sentence, I think it's unique."
Lamine Yamal was once again the star of the show in Barcelona’s title-clinching victory, opening the scoring with a stunning curled effort before teeing up Fermin Lopez in stoppage time for his side’s second goal.
The 17-year-old’s goal involvements were his 22nd and 23rd of the La Liga campaign, with eight goals and 13 assists to his name.
Yamal celebrates his goal at Espanyol on Thursday
Image credit: Getty Images
Flick has been impressed by the "measured" performances of Yamal, but insists the young winger still has the "potential to improve" further.
The Barcelona head coach said: "He's a really clever player, he's 17 years old now and really measured about a lot of things.
"And of course, you can see in every training, he has some special moments, and when you see this, it's unbelievable and good to see this.
"But at the end, I think also he has potential to improve and he has to do that. He has to train, to work hard the same like the other players."
Barcelona’s last two title wins have now both been sealed at local rivals Espanyol, with a 4-2 win clinching the league in 2023.
On that occasion, the visiting side were forced to race down the tunnel as Espanyol fans ran onto the pitch at the end of the game.
The full-time scenes were not so heated this time around, but there was a slight coming together between the players before ground staff turned the sprinklers on to get the Barcelona players off the pitch.
Flick said his players did not celebrate on the pitch out of "respect" for the Espanyol fans and to avoid the scenes of two years ago, but said they were able to enjoy their title win in the dressing room and will have the chance for further celebration during Friday’s open-top bus parade.
The German said: "On the pitch, it was clear that we cannot celebrate there. It's normal, I think, was it two years ago? I don't want to have this, so it's all about the respect for the fans here.
"Of course, we celebrate in the dressing room, it was great, fantastic. All the players can do that.
"And of course, tomorrow, I think I will stand a little bit in the back and we'll see what happens. I think I also will enjoy it."
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