Hansi Flick wants his Barcelona side to emulate Guardiola’s Manchester City

Barcelona began their pre-season tour of the USA on the right note as a youthful team put in an eye-catching display to hold Manchester City to a 2-2 draw before beating them in the penalty shootout.

Pau Victor and Pablo Torre were on target for Hansi Flick’s side while other players like Marc Casado, Inaki Pena, and Ander Astralaga also managed to impress at various stages in the game.

Hansi Flick happy with start, wants to emulate Guardiola at Manchester City

Barcelona manager Flick addressed the media after the game and expressed his pleasure at the level of performance shown by the team in the pre-season friendly vs Manchester City.

“We were really good against a great team. We defended together and attacked together, as a team, and that’s what we want. We fought for each other,” said Flick.

“Maybe in the first half we were too deep, our idea is to be a bit more forward, we need more possession, but we play against Manchester City….”

“I wasn’t sure if we could be at a high level defensively, but we did it. It was a great game,” he added.

Flick wants to emulate Guardiola. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)

Admitting his desire to emulate what Guardiola has achieved at Man City, the German tactician added:

“Pep Guardiola has been there for eight years and we want to do the same as them in terms of philosophy. Maybe a little bit different but with that idea.”

Impressed by the youngsters

Hansi Flick also had words of praise for the two goalkeepers who featured on the night in Inaki Pena and Ander Astralaga, as he said:

“I’m proud of the young players. We also had a fantastic goalkeeper. We were a team and also Ander in the penalty shoot-out was important.”

However, Flick refused to comment further on individual performances, insisting that he was happy to see the team perform well as a collective, saying:

“I don’t like to talk about individual players, it’s a team, not individual players. If they play hard, that’s what we want. We want to be a team that fights.

“There are situations where they have fought, worked and wanted to work for the team. It’s fantastic, especially for the youngsters.”

Finally, Flick touched upon what the team had been working on during early sessions, saying:

“The first few days we focused on the physical part, also some tactical sessions, on defence-attack transitions. We showed them what we wanted and the boys did very well against a fantastic team.”

Source: Barça One