FC Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick said that he “was not entirely happy” with his team’s 2-0 La Liga win over Las Palmas on Saturday.
The Catalans moved three points clear of bitter rival Real Madrid thanks to second half strikes from Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres, yet they struggled far more than was necessary on the road with Tuesday’s tough Copa del Rey semifinal first leg meeting with Atletico Madrid on the horizon.
Told that he looked worried in the first half post-match, Flick confirmed that he was. “But we showed some situations from the first half to the players, so that they could see what we could do better. I’m not entirely happy with the game, but I’m happy with the three points,” the German stated.
With the La Liga lead taken back on goal difference through another scrappy 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano on Monday, Flick was asked if his team is “suffering too much in recent games”.
“But it’s six points in the last two games and that’s good. It’s normal that we’re tired, but we’re happy because we’re still leading and that’s a good situation. We know that we can improve and that we have to keep improving,” he said.
One other positive point beyond the three picked up is that Wojciech Szczesny kept his fourth clean sheet in his last five outings. On what the reason for this success is, Flick said: “Everyone has their responsibility in their position. The four centre backs we have, the full-backs… [Marc]
Casado played a good game today, Pedri is incredible.”
At the other end of the pitch, Barca has scored 116 goals in 38 games while topping the league, reaching the Champions League last 16, and soon meeting Atleti for a place in the Copa del Rey final.
Despite this, it was put to Flick what improvements can be made, and he noted that in the first half “we could have done better in some situations” and must “occupy the positions in the area better.”
Luckily for Culers, Barca now plays two games at home with the first the mentioned last four Copa showdown versus Atletico Madrid before Real Sociedad are hosted in La Liga on March 2.
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