Flick talks De Jong, Eric, Szczesny, Pena, Madrid derby ahead of Barcelona vs Young Boys

Barcelona will be gunning for their first win of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night when they take on Young Boys at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

The Blaugrana lost to AS Monaco in their first game of the UCL league phase earlier this month, which was their only defeat of the season until Saturday night when they were beaten by Osasuna in La Liga.

Hansi Flick & co. will thus be eager to produce a strong reaction and pick up their first win in Europe in the process.

Speaking to the media today ahead of Tuesday’s match, Barcelona boss Flick discussed what they can expect from Young Boys, saying:

“We have analysed them as we analyse any team. They have been champions in the past, this year they have not started very well, but we have seen that they have good players and that they are strong on the counter.

“They are a young and motivated team and we have to prepare very well.”

On how his team must defend against a side that poses a threat on the counter, the manager replied:

“If you make a lot of mistakes, like against Osasuna, it’s harder to defend. Precisely when the other team plays well on the counter, you have to reduce the mistakes. The players do that very well.

“When we have the ball, we know how to play, how to combine, how to be positioned. The key is to make few mistakes. We have to assume and be clear that we all have our responsibility on the pitch.”

On whether he prioritised tomorrow’s game over the Osasuna clash, given how he rotated his players on Saturday, the German tactician stated:

“At the end of the day, we are in a situation, when you talk to the players, where you have to manage the pressure. You have pressure too. If we want to win, we have to manage the pressure, like everyone else.

“The game against Monaco, for example, we have to forget. In ten minutes everything changed. This game is at home. It’s different. Both this game and Sunday’s match are very important.”

Discussing the importance of tomorrow’s game, especially in the current format of the UCL, Flick said:

“We will put out the best team to beat Young Boys. They lost the first match, but we must not be complacent. We want to win the first three points in any case. We have to score as many points as possible from the start.”

Flick then went on to confirm that Frenkie de Jong is back in the team after more than five months out of action, as he said:

“Yes, it’s great news to have Frenkie in the team, whether it’s five minutes or ten minutes. It’s very important for us. We have had players injured and after October we will get three players back.

“We are all happy when they come back, and it will be good for Frenkie too to come back, to be there, to be able to be with the youngsters. And if he gets the chance to play, he will. I don’t know if 45, 20 or 10. And it will be good for him, in my opinion.”

Barcelona are short in numbers in midfield tomorrow, with Eric Garcia suspended for the game while Gavi, Marc Bernal, Fermin Lopez, and Dani Olmo are ruled out with injuries.

So, when asked if it pushes Flick to use De Jong tomorrow, he said: “In Frenkie’s case we have to see how the match goes. With Eric’s red card, we lost a midfielder and if we count, we don’t have many players left in this position.

“It’s important that very few mistakes are made in the midfield.”

Calling for sanctions against the Atletico Madrid fans who disrupted last night’s derby by throwing objects at Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois, Flick said:

“I don’t know exactly what happened [they explain]. I think these people have to be identified and sanctioned. It’s difficult when there are so many people. But this can’t happen, that’s all I can say.”

Finally, when asked about the goalkeeping situation now that Wojciech Szczesny is expected to join and what it means for Inaki Pena, the Barcelona boss replied:

“I’m not talking about players who aren’t in the team yet, he isn’t. But the players who are at Barça, you can’t be sure if they’re going to be starters or not.”

Source: SPORT