Flick says “everything is good” as Barça star trains separately ahead of Valencia trip | OneFootball

Hansi Flick assured that “everything is good” with Lamine Yamal after the teenager was seen training separately ahead of Barcelona’s trip to face Valencia on Sunday.

The 19-year-old “trained separately and everything was good,” Flick explained in his pre-match press conference, “so he’ll travel with us and then we’ll see tomorrow.

“He got a hit and he had some pain so we said it’s better that he trains separately.”

Yamal has been named as one of Barcelona’s five-man leadership group for the 2026/27 season, with Flick providing some insight into how his five captains were chosen.

“My coaching staff and I are now here for two years and we have more overview of what happens in the team. I think it was important that I have two captains; I decided the two captains and then three of the other players would be named by the team.

“That is how we do it, so first is Raphinha, second is Pedri, third is Eric [Garcia], then Frenkie [de Jong] and Lamine [Yamal].

“I don’t want to decide all five captains. I chose these two because they are very important and normally they’re both playing in the stating eleven, so for me it was clear to make this decision because I know the team much better than before,” the German added.

Barcelona have enjoyed a strong start to their LaLiga campaign, picking up all available points and scoring a combined 12 goals in their opening three matches against Elche, Athletic Club and Rayo Vallecano.

The blaugrana sit at the top of the league table – level on points with Real Madrid, although Los Blancos’ perfect start came to an end on Saturday when they slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Real Betis.

“I think when you see the game yesterday, Real Madrid also played well,” Flick expressed.

“They had big, big chances and in the end, this is football. It can happen, always. For us, it’s important that we focus on ourselves so it’s important that we play our style, how we want to play, so everyone has to be 100% convinced about that.

“Tomorrow will be very tough, we play at 16:15 [local time] so it will be very hot, but at the end there are no excuses,” he said.

With just four matches remaining before the international break, Flick was questioned whether it’s possible for Barça to extend their perfect start into October – and the German emphasised that “we’re working on that.

He explained to reporters: “We work on that every day and as I said before, the quality is there and also the attitude, the mentality. It’s great to see this in every training. I think also in the gym we have a great attitude, a great atmosphere. Everyone is focused on what we are doing and this is important to train every day, get better every day.

“The quality I see in training is really good. It’s about how we press, how we pass, how we play football in training and how we compete every game. It’s at the highest level, but at the end it’s important that we win games and it’s important that we win the title. We’ll see at the end of the season if this team is better than the others, but the quality is top.”

Flick took time to praise Gabriel Jesus following his arrival from Arsenal in a shock move last week.

“Of course, maybe he is not at 100%, but he is ready to play some minutes to give the team maybe a big option for tomorrow, so especially in the second half we will see how the match goes and then we’ll see.

“I think he’s ready, I really enjoy how he is playing football with the ball, [he is] very calm and also in front of the goal. It’s very good to see this,” the 61-year-old noted.

Jules Koundé was another point of interest from training sessions ahead of Sunday’s trip to face Valencia, with the Frenchman seen training in a central position rather than as a full-back.

Flick explained: “What I can say about Jules is he’s an unbelievably professional player, and also in this situation because he didn’t start in the beginning of the season, but for him it’s a challenge. It’s a competition and he gives everything in training. Of course, at the moment, I also spoke with him that maybe he can play as a centre-back.

“I know that he prefers to play as a full-back because in the first season with us, he played at his top level so he wants to reach this again. We will help him to reach his best level, that is our job, but at the moment in every position we have fantastic options. It’s always about the team, it’s not about a player or about me, it’s always about the team.

“We always decide what is best for the team at the moment and of course it can change in a second or game-by-game, but at the end, what I see from Jules is that he’s working hard every day and wants to reach his top level.”

Barcelona face Valencia at 15:15 BST [16:15 CEST] on Sunday 6 September.