Barça tumbles, Hansi Flick makes a promise

FC Barcelona suffered a particularly frustrating defeat this Saturday against Atlético Madrid (1-2) in La Liga. Despite a solid performance on their pitch, the Blaugranas collapsed in the final moments of the match, leaving the Colchoneros to leave with the three points. The Spanish vice-champions, dominant for a large part of the match, had nevertheless taken the lead thanks to Pedri, author of the opening score after half an hour of play. However, the Catalans lacked realism to dig the gap. Raphinha saw his attempt hit the crossbar (57th), while Robert Lewandowski missed a huge opportunity in the second half (76th).

This lack of offensive efficiency cost Barcelona dearly. Atlético, faithful to its opportunistic style, punished the locals with an equalizing goal from Rodrigo De Paul on a lightning counter-attack (60th), before the “super-sub” Alexander Sørloth, who came on in place of Antoine Griezmann before the last quarter of an hour, offered victory to his team with a murderous strike in the 96th minute. A cruel outcome which allows Diego Simeone to celebrate his first success on Barça’s field, and for the Madrid club to put an end to a drought which had lasted since 2006.

Flick disappointed but confident

During the post-match press conference, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick declared himself satisfied with the appearance of the match, despite a poor accounting operation. He also assured that progress was to come. The Culés, demoted to second place, even risk slipping to third place if Real Madrid win against Sevilla this Sunday.

“We played incredibly well. We had many chances and that’s what I want. Of course I’m disappointed with the result, but it also shows that Atletico are an experienced team that defend very well. We will not give up, we will come back, and the team will show that it can score more goals. We had clear chances that we missed and that always has to do with scoring goals.”commented the German technician.