FC Barcelona Coach Flick Confirms UCL Absences And Talks Slump In Form

FC Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick discussed which players will be absent from Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Brest, in addition to his team’s slump in form as of late.

Lamine Yamal has been a notable absence from the starting line up, with Barca losing both matches he has missed in La Liga, or at least hasn’t started, while also drawing on Saturday at Celta Vigo.

The 17-year-old prodigy has a muscle overload, and Flick is wise in not rushing him back to action just for the sake of it.

“Lamine’s quality is very good, he gives us a lot,” said Flick.

“I think it will be the last game he misses, today he seems to be better. I think Saturday could be an option [against Las Palmas], maybe he will be on the bench. We have to wait, we’ll see,” the German added, therefore confirming Lamine’s non-involvement in the Brest tie.

It could be said that Barca also suffered without Alejandro Balde at left back at the weekend, and Flick explained why he was out.

“Balde had some muscle problems, so we thought he would rest. Today he is better but I hope that for the games after Brest he will be an option. He won’t be there tomorrow,” Flick further confirmed.

As touched on briefly, Barca seems to have hit a bit of a slump since a magnificent week where it thrashed Bayern Munich in the UCL 4-1 and then Real Madrid 4-0 in El Clasico at the Bernabeu.

A 1-0 loss to Real Sociedad before the international break was accompanied by blowing a 2-0 lead at Celta Vigo, therefore allowing the Galicians to equalize by scoring twice in the last six minutes which left Flick furious at the full time whistle and Gavi criticizing a teammate for a costly blunder.

When he was invited to discuss whether his men are on a downward slope, Flick reiterated that “it’s a young team, as I said before”.

“During the season we have had several situations, and we have to learn from them. The quality of the squad is very high, and we have to show it on the pitch. Tomorrow we want to prove it. It’s a process, this young team is [a team] in process. That’s part of soccer. We are at that moment in La Liga, it is not what we would like..,” he trailed off.

While Barca still leads the Spanish top flight, it can have its advantage cut to just a single point if Madrid wins its game in hand over Valencia.

Beating Brest would help get things back on track, ahead of Las Palmas on Saturday in the league.