The FC Barcelona coach Hansi Flick assured after his team’s elimination in the Champions League quarter-finals that he was “proud of the attitude and mentality” of his players, who must “learn” from this failure.
An elimination that hurts. Despite their victory in Madrid against Atlético (2-1) in the Champions League quarter-final second leg, FC Barcelona is out of the competition following their defeat (0-2) in the first leg last Wednesday. A huge disappointment for the Blaugrana and their coach, Hansi Flick.
The German coach did not hesitate to assert, after the match, that FC Barcelona “deserved to qualify for the semi-finals” of the Champions League, but must “learn” from this failure to come back stronger next year.
A title to secure in the league
“We had a fantastic first half. It’s obvious that we should have scored more goals. We had many opportunities, and in the end we conceded a goal that we should not have taken. But I am really proud of the attitude and mentality of this team,” said Hansi Flick.
“We are disappointed, of course. Over the two matches, I believe we deserved to reach the semi-finals. Everyone is sad because winning the Champions League is everyone’s dream. But we must accept this result, and we will come back stronger,” he promised.
The German coach, who did not want to comment on the refereeing, unlike the first leg, acknowledged that his team was “young” and that they had “a lot of things to improve”, but now they must refocus on the title race in La Liga. Regarding the new red card received by Eric Garcia, after Pau Cubarsi’s in the first leg, he believed that “his players” must “learn from these things” to become better.
Barcelona captain Frenkie de Jong, present in the mixed zone, affirmed that the Catalan giant had “dominated both matches, even playing with ten” and only regretted that “luck did not fall on their side”. “We must continue to grow. I am sure that if we continue to play like this, with the team we have and this style of play, at some point things will turn in our favor,” he hoped.
