"We want to do the same as City here, albeit a bit differently"

Within the relative competitiveness of a preseason, Hansi Flick had his first serious confrontation at the helm of Barcelona against Pep Guardiola's Manchester City. Despite fielding a team full of youth players, the Catalan coach was satisfied with the performance of his side, who drew 2-2 against a much more experienced team and then beat them in the penalty shootout.

The German analysed the match after the game and suggested that Guardiola's Manchester City is one of his role models: “Pep Guardiola has been there for 8 years and we want to do the same as him in terms of philosophy. Maybe a little bit different but with that idea. We were good against a great team. We defended and attacked together, as a team, and that's what we're looking for. In the first half we were too deep, our idea is to be a little bit more forward, to have more possession, but we played against Manchester City and they were a little bit more settled,” he continued.

Flick was surprised by the team's competitiveness, especially on defense, where Barcelona performed above expectations: “I wasn't sure if we would be at a high level defensively, but we did it. It was a great game.

The new Barcelona coach concluded by praising the players of 'La Masia', but did not want to single out any player after the 2-2 draw against the English: “I don't want to focus on names. The young players did really well. I already spoke in my presentation about 'La Masia' and everyone talks about it. We talk to the young players and we will continue to do so to transmit to them what we want”.

 

July 31, 2024