Flick talks Pedri, Lewandowski, Araujo, Lamine ahead of Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid | OneFootball

FC Barcelona will lock horns with Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals.

The Blaugrana suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano in the first leg in February and are staring at a near-impossible task to mount a comeback.

But back-to-back wins against Levante and Villarreal will serve as a confidence boost for the Catalans, who are in a confident mood heading into tomorrow’s match against Diego Simeone’s side.

On the eve of the match, Barcelona manager Hansi Flick addressed the media in his pre-match press conference, discussing various topics, including the injury to Robert Lewandowski and Pedri’s fitness.

Kicking things off, the German acknowledged the challenge that lies ahead of his team, saying:

“Everyone knows what’s coming up tomorrow. We’re four goals down, and we have to make the impossible possible. That’s our objective. We know it won’t be easy, but we won’t give up. It’s important to keep a clean sheet and we have to believe we can do it.”

Talking about the self-belief in the team to climb the mountain ahead, he added: “You always have to believe, obviously. All the fans in the stadium will support us. We have a good example, against Dortmund.

“We can score two goals in each half. We know it’s difficult because the opponent is fantastic and they hurt us a lot in the last match, but I think we can do it.”

The Barcelona head coach then offered an update on whether Pedri was ready to start tomorrow against Atleti, saying:

“We have to manage it. We have many more matches besides this one. We’ll see how many minutes he can play.”

Highlighting the importance of the support from fans on such an occasion, Flick remarked:

“For me, it’s important that everyone who wants to support us can do so during the game. We need to establish a perfect connection between the team and the fans. We love this.”

Touching upon how it was important not to be hasty and anxious while showing hunger and intensity, he added:

“It’s always better to think about the first goal first. We have to be smart. We’ll be hungry to get it, and I want to see that hunger. We saw a completely different team in the last match, a lot of intensity in the game.

“We have to play together, as a team. That’s the key.”

Barcelona believe in their chances of a comeback vs Atletico. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

On being asked whether the team can draw inspiration from Barcelona’s iconic remontada against PSG a decade ago, he noted:

“I don’t think about the past or the future. The most important thing is tomorrow. Yes, we know the history, but our job is to do well tomorrow. We didn’t do well in the last match, and we want to see our best version and we want to see everyone’s support.”

On Sunday, Barcelona confirmed that Robert Lewandowski had suffered an eye socket injury and will miss the Atletico Madrid clash. Talking about what his absence means to the team, Flick explained:

“We have to accept it and deal with it. We weren’t very lucky because he turned around and collided with an opponent’s back and then scored…

“It’s always problematic not having a player like him, but the team always manages it well. This will give other players a chance to prove themselves.”

With Eric Garcia also missing due to suspension, it opens up a spot in the defensive line. And on being asked if Ronald Araujo could get the nod in the starting XI, Flick said:

“Yes, obviously. We have a team and they’re doing very well defensively. Ronald, too. We’ll see if he starts; I can’t say yet because I haven’t decided on the starting eleven. I know their strengths, but I have to think about it.”

When asked to put a percentage on the team’s chances of making it to the final, Flick replied: “I don’t know. To reach the final, we have to do more than just win. We won’t give up, and anything is possible.”

On whether there will be any change to the team’s style of play to catch Atletico Madrid by surprise, the manager detailed:

“We always want to play our style. We’ve thought about everything that could happen and give us an advantage. We’ve played very well, also against Villarreal, an excellent opponent. But we have to play as a unit, with and without the ball.

“We have to pressure them and win the one-on-one duels. Especially to avoid losing possession against teams that make those kinds of transitions.”

Concluding, Flick highlighted Lamine Yamal’s importance to the team, but also underlined how the entire team needs to come good to pull off the comeback.

“The important thing is that the team is switched on. Lamine’s first goal came after a great recovery and a great pass from Fermín. Lamine has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. He had a great spell after that, but we need everyone.”

Source: Mundo Deportivo