MADRID, 14 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The FC Barcelona coach, Hansi Flick, has assured that he will not waste “energy” in regretting his two-match ban for his expulsion in the match against Real Betis, and hopes that the referees “decide in the same way on other benches” , in addition to asking his players to play “100% concentrated” this Sunday’s game against Leganés (9:00 p.m.).
“I think my reaction was not so exaggerated. I went to the bench. Maybe I should have gone a little softer. When we started the season I told the team that I don’t want to be complaining on the field, I don’t want us to complain on the field of the referees or the opponents. We are playing football, we are going to focus on that. It is not worth losing energy with other things that we cannot change,” he declared at a press conference.
In this sense, he recalled that when a referee makes a decision “it cannot” be “changed” and that is why “it must be accepted.” “I have to accept the red. I feel bad, but this is a different league than the ones I was used to; I just arrived and I already got my card. I accept it and I have to work on my behavior, but I want the referees to decide in the same way in all games, also in relation to other benches,” he said.
His replacement on the bench will be Marcus Sorg. “They communicate very well with everyone. He is a coach with a lot of experience, he is having a fantastic performance here, he has a great knowledge of football. I believe in him 100% and he has the necessary competence to manage the bench tomorrow,” he said.
In another order of things, he valued the duel against the pepineros. “I have told the team that everything depends on us, that everything depends on whether we play with 100% concentration. All teams try to find our weakness, that is normal, and tomorrow they are going to fight until the end to try to get a point. I “I want the team to be 100% focused, I want them to respect the opponent, but we must play our game with our style,” he noted.
However, he did not want to reveal if he will rotate. “Tomorrow we play against Leganés and we are still not thinking about the game against Atlético. We have to make decisions with the players who have played the last games; we also have very high-level players on the bench and it is very good to have fresh legs in the field,” he stressed.
Thus, he did not say anything about whether Raphinha will rest. “Today is his birthday and I have seen him very fresh, with a lot of positive energy. Tomorrow I will speak with him yet, I have not made the decision,” he indicated, before talking about the Uruguayan Ronald Araujo, who he hopes will “play some minutes.” “I’m not sure I’m going to be in the starting eleven, but my plan is for me to play a few minutes tomorrow. How many, I don’t know,” he said.
Regarding Frenkie de Jong’s role as a playmaker, he stated that it is because he “always” thinks “collectively.” “I think that on the field you can see that the players are comfortable. It is not to protect him, he knows what he is doing, it is about giving the players the necessary support so that they reach their maximum potential,” he insisted.
“The important thing for all players is that they reach the highest level as quickly as possible. Hopefully we can help them do that. Our job is to give them the support to reach the maximum possible potential, and not only with Frenkie, but also with Gavi and the rest of the players who have returned after injuries,” he continued.
Finally, Flick spoke about how recoveries are progressing. “After an injury it is normal that it takes a while to reach the maximum level of potential, that is totally normal and reasonable. We love that little by little they are returning. Ansu trained today and did very well and if many players being able to play again is a big step for them. The medical team and the technical team have done an excellent job,” he concluded.