Amid Barcelona injury woes, Flick urges players to keep fighting | OneFootball

The coach of Barcelona, Hansi Flick, has asked his players to “keep fighting,” despite the series of injuries plaguing the club at the start of the season, which has impacted the results.

A day before the tough trip to Vigo to face Celta, the German coach criticized his team's performance last Wednesday during the visit to Club Brugge (3-3) in the Champions League.

“The players know we need to play much better. It is important that when everyone is back in two or three matches, they are at their best level. They will be able to help us a lot. Until then, we need to keep fighting, and I think we didn’t see that on Wednesday in Bruges. We didn’t see the grit we want,” Flick stated in a press conference.

In LaLiga, Barça is five points behind Real Madrid before the 12th round: “We would like to have a few more points. We need to move forward. There is still a long way to go.”

“It’s not an excuse, it’s a fact. We have many injured players, and they are important players, many of them key pieces. We are managing the situation the best way we can,” he added, referring to the injuries since the start of the season.

After a first season in charge of Barça, in which Flick led the team to the titles of LaLiga, Copa del Rey, and the Spanish Super Cup, as well as a Champions League semifinal, the team's performance has been visibly inferior this season due to constant absences.

In Vigo, for example, Barça will play without Raphinha, Pedri, Gavi, and Joan Garcia, in addition to the uncertainty regarding Jules Koundé and the groin issues of star Lamine Yamal.

“He is much better, he is training well, even in the gym. He is undergoing daily treatment and we are seeing that he is returning to his best level, but he is not yet 100%. He still feels a bit of discomfort and we need to take care of him here and in the national team,” he said, referring to Yamal's call-up to the Spanish national team for the last two World Cup Qualifiers next week.

Celta de Vigo has won their last five games across all competitions, while Barcelona has suffered three defeats (two in the Spanish Championship against Sevilla and Real Madrid) and a draw in the visit to Club Brugge in the seven games played since October 1st.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.