FC Barcelona missed the club’s own starting record and lost for the first time under Hansi Flick. After the game, the coach explained the reasons for the 4-2 defeat in Pamplona.
It would have been the end of the eleven-year-old start record, but nothing came of it. In the 2013/14 season, FC Barcelona started the La Liga season with eight wins, and the same was true for Hansi Flick, who was in the running for seven wins before Barca’s clash with Osasuna on Saturday.
However, the eighth was not achieved because, among other things, Bayern loanee Bryan Zaragoza excelled in the opponent’s shirt – and probably also because Flick is plagued by personnel worries. With Lamine Yamal and Raphinha, he left two key players on the bench at the start of the game. A decision that hurt, “but we had to do it,” he later emphasized with regard to the circumstances and the workload.
“Many players have played a lot of minutes, that’s my responsibility, I decided to do it this way,” said the former Bayern and DFB coach, thus taking responsibility: “It’s about me, not the players.” Long-term injury victim Ansu Fati was in the squad for the third time, but was again unable to play. With Marc-André ter Stegen, Gavi and Frankie de Jong out injured, important players are missing anyway.
“We will continue”
At half-time, the Catalans were already 2-0 down in Pamplona, Zaragoza – who appeared in the Granada shirt against Barcelona last year – had prepared one goal and scored the second themselves. Despite scoring a goal of their own and bringing on Raphinha and Yamal, Flick’s team were unable to turn the game around in the second half. “We have to accept the defeat, today was not our best day,” admitted the 59-year-old. He remains positive, however: “We will continue. Everyone is on the right path and we will show that in the next two games.”
On Tuesday, Barcelona, which remains top of La Liga, hosts Swiss champions Young Boys Bern in the Champions League. Then, on Sunday, before the international break, they face Deportivo Alaves in a league game.