Lionel Messi delighted with Hansi Flick’s Barcelona – ‘It’s spectacular’

Hansi Flick’s start to life in Barcelona has not been short of praise in the opening months of his spell, and he can add few more illustrious plaudits than Lionel Messi. The Argentinian captain has expressed his delight at watching the Blaugrana under the German coach.

The Inter Miami star is set to jet into the Catalan capital next week in order to take part in the club’s 125th anniversary celebrations on Thursday, which will take place at the Liceu theatre. He has taken part in the ‘El Nou Clam’ documentary series that is being released in the lead up to it, and spoke about just how much the city means to him.

“My kids are Catalan, I spent my whole life living there, the truth is that I feel like I’m from Barcelona, and at any point I could go and live there. Because my kids, my wife and I miss our life in Barcelona a lot, as we have friends there, we left a lot behind there.”

In addition, he was full of praise for the Blaugrana’s early season form, as well as the rise of various young players that have come into the side.

“They look spectacular and it doesn’t surprise me because it’s not something that’s new, it’s happened all my life, or at least, since I arrived at Barcelona when I was 13,” he explained to TV3.

“For me it’s spectacular that the boys have had the opportunity for a couple of years. When they are given the opportunity and the confidence they respond in this way because they know the club better than anyone else and because they are used to playing this way since they were little and when they are accompanied, these things happen, as they also happened in another era.”

Shortly after his comments were released, Flick held his pre-match press conference before Barcelona take on Celta Vigo on Saturday night, and called Messi’s praise ‘an honour’. The challenge for Flick and Barcelona will be to maintain the form throughout the season with a thin squad. Despite playing some of the best football in Europe in the early months, if Real Madrid win their game in hand over Valencia, their advantage will be down to just three points.