Flick talks Araujo, Pedri, Raphinha, Lamine, Fermin, Eric ahead of Barcelona vs Alaves | OneFootball

After the midweek defeat to Chelsea, FC Barcelona will be gunning to bounce back to winning ways when they take on Deportivo Alaves in La Liga on Saturday.

The Blaugrana have an excellent opportunity to go past arch-rivals Real Madrid in the table with a victory tomorrow, and will be hoping to collect all three points at the new Spotify Camp Nou.

Ahead of the clash against Alaves, who are currently 14th in the league table, Barça manager Hansi Flick addressed the media, discussing various topics, including the absence of defender Ronald Araujo and the injury to Fermin Lopez.

Kicking things off, the German tactician opened up on how his team will approach the game against Alaves, saying:

“It’s always about scoring goals. Alaves defend very well, with passion. It will be difficult to score, but I think we’ll manage it. The important thing is to get the three points.”

On injuries and returns

Ronald Araujo has missed two days of training, and providing an explanation for the Uruguayan star’s absence, Flick said:

“He has a stomach virus. He’s out of training today and will also miss tomorrow’s match.”

Regarding Araujo reportedly being severely affected mentally by the Chelsea loss, Flick added: “We’re all feeling down. The defeat against Chelsea was tough. We thought we could win. We have to be optimistic about the next match.”

Fermin Lopez will also miss the game tomorrow due to a muscle injury. However, Flick dismissed reports suggesting that the youngster had suffered the injury vs Athletic Club and played against Chelsea while carrying discomfort.

“Athletic’s tackle affected him, but he had no problems. It was after the match against Chelsea that he noticed some discomfort. There’s no other explanation,” said the manager.

“This is football, and these things happen. Sometimes it has to do with new boots. Now they have a new colour on their boots every month.”

Flick has opted to use Eric Garcia in midfield in recent games, preferring the versatile star ahead of Marc Casado and Marc Bernal. When asked about his preference in the centre of the park, the Barcelona manager said:

“I think Eric can play in different positions and we also wanted to try Andreas Christensen there. It’s good for technical plays to have tall players.”

“We believe in Marc Casado and Marc Bernal, who is coming back from injury. He’ll get minutes. Casado will have opportunities, he has our full confidence,” he affirmed.

On if there was a possibility for Andreas Christensen to start tomorrow, he remarked: “We’ll see. I don’t normally like to talk about the possible starting eleven.”

Flick also confirmed that Pedri will return and play some minutes against Alaves, saying: “He’ll definitely get some minutes against Alaves, but not from the start. We’ll see. He may also play those minutes in the first half.”

Pedri returns tomorrow. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

The Barcelona head coach also highlighted the importance of Raphinha and how his return is a positive, saying:

“For me, he’s one of the most focused players in the team and I’ve missed him. He fits in very well with our philosophy and usually has a very positive impact on our game. He’s very good in transition.

“His season last year didn’t come out of nowhere; he’s eager to show how good he is. I want him to show us how good he is.”

Flick also touched upon Lamine Yamal’s fitness as well as his reaction to being substituted in the game against Chelsea.

“Lamine is fine and feels good. Many players are unhappy when they are substituted. I was a player myself and often didn’t react as I should have,” he said.

“Cucurella is one of the best full-backs in the world, he’s a very good player. But, for me, now it’s Lamine’s turn to step up and show that we have to forget about the Chelsea game. That’s when he has to show how good he is.”

On form and style of play

Talking about the team’s form and inconsistency this season, especially in big games, the Barcelona manager elaborated:

“When we lose and concede three goals, it’s easy to say that it wasn’t a good match or that it wasn’t the Barça we’d like to see. At the end of the day, there are people who don’t know what we need to play with that high line.”

“It’s our own style, it’s not just about the defenders, the forwards and midfielders start the pressing. That’s what I need from the players. The blame seems to fall on the defence, but that’s not fair. If we don’t all press well, we’ll have problems, I want to make that clear.”

Continuing, he added: “I said I was optimistic because we did some things well, but we need to improve up front when we start pressing. I want to see what I see in training, and I like what I see. The players are very focused and have a lot of quality.

“Pedri, Raphinha and Marcus will bring us more. I have to tell the players what I see.”

On whether there will be signings made in the January transfer window, Flick remarked: “I’m just focused on the next game. We have just over three weeks left before the break. There are a lot of games to play. All my energy is focused on that.”

Talking about the message he has for his players to improve, he noted: “I explained it before. In today’s training session, I saw good dynamics and more intensity, which is what we lacked in the match against Chelsea.”

Discussing the La Liga title race, Flick insisted that his focus is only his team and winning their next game.

“Our goal is to get the three points, and every match in La Liga is a difficult one. Anything else is secondary.”

Source: Mundo Deportivo