Barcelona lost the top of the Spanish league last night (Saturday) after surrendering 2:1 to Atletico Madrid from a goal in the 96th minute, and recorded a third league game without a win. Flick’s team dropped to second place after the loss, and could drop to third place today if Real Madrid beat Sevilla.
“The way we played was unbelievable,” said Flick at the end, “maybe the break is coming at the right time. I appreciate the way we played, but we have to learn from these things.” Despite the recent loss of points against Leganes and Las Palmas, the Barcelona coach said he believes the team will come back better for the next game, which will be held on January 4 against Barbastro in the Spanish Cup.
“The atmosphere in the dressing room is good, but this is football,” Flick added, “we will return, that’s for sure. We need to build confidence. My job is to give confidence to all the players. In Munich, it was a different team, with experienced players. But I’m happy in this team, She is young and with excellent qualities.”
Diego Simeone emphasized at the press conference the mental endurance of his players, who managed to come back from a 1:0 deficit to win, and admitted that Barcelona was better. “I am very happy with the team’s effort. We are humble enough to absorb and defend against a team that plays excellently,” said the Argentinian at the end, adding that after Barca’s goal, his players woke up.
Simona brought in the scorer of the winning goal, Alexander Sorluth, in the 73rd minute instead of Antoine Griezmann, and said that the substitutions were among the reasons for the victory. “That’s how it is in the team, when one player is replaced and the other comes in to give an answer,” he said, “We took Griezmann off early, which is difficult for me, but I knew that Sorluth had something that could help us get back into the game. I think the substitutions gave us strength.”
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