Hansi Flick talks Garcia, Szczesny, Toni, Yamal, Busquets, Luis de la Fuente ahead of Barcelona vs Real Sociedad | OneFootball

Following a 3-1 comeback win against Real Oviedo, FC Barcelona are going to return to action in La Liga on Sunday as they face one of the more formidable sides in the league, Real Sociedad.

The Catalans will be without some of their key players, but this match can provide them with a golden opportunity to improve their chances of gaining the lead in the La Liga table as two of their main challengers, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, will be facing off today, on Saturday.

Ahead of this game against La Reale, Hansi Flick addressed his customary press conference, in which he talked about the state of his team and the upcoming match. As Mundo Deportivo has reported, the German coach spent quite a lot of time talking about the injuries facing his squad.

The main highlights of Flick’s presser are as follows:

Hansi Flick started by reviewing the playing style of his upcoming opponents:

“Real Sociedad has a clear playing style. They want to build from the back, and up front, they have a great striker. They are strong and fast. But we also have good players. This is an opportunity to show our strength.”

The German coach provided an update on Joan Garcia’s situation:

“It’s not pleasant to have Joan Garcia out; he was doing well. He got injured in the last match against Oviedo, but these things happen. Now Teck is back, and if we look at the second half of last season, we won almost every game with Szczesny; he was there, and we won three titles with him. He’s a great goalkeeper, a great person, and I have no doubt about him.”

The Blaugrana trainer also confirmed that he will match the Madrid derby today:

“It’s at 16:15, right? I think I’ll watch it, it’s normal, I watch many games, and for me it will be a good afternoon to watch the match. They are two great teams. I’ll watch it.”

Hansi Flick also expressed his satisfaction with the Montjuic pitch:

“I hope so. They laid it down very quickly; they did a good job. I’m calm.”

The Barcelona coach has called up the youngster Toni Fernandez several times in recent weeks, but he has not gotten a lot of opportunities to play. The German ensured that he remains an option for the Real Sociedad game:

“I think it’s good that he trains and plays with the best. Every week, he learns and improves from a great team. Toni is an option to play. He didn’t play the last few matches, but he’s available, he’s a good option.”

Hansi Flick was succinct when asked about Sergio Busquets’ retirement:

“We all enjoyed that Barça and that midfield. I enjoyed it a lot.”

The German coach was quite optimistic about Lamine Yamal’s chances of returning to the pitch tomorrow:

“Whether he starts or is on the bench, he’ll most likely get some minutes tomorrow.”

The Blaugrana trainer was also asked about whether he keeps a record of the injuries, to which he replied:

“It’s part of my job, but I love it. It’s always a challenge. We have a great team, despite the injuries. We focus on what is in our hands, which is what we should influence.”

Barcelona have a blockbuster UCL tie against Paris Saint-Germain coming up, but Flick ensured that he was fully focused on the match against La Reale:

“We are always focused on the next match, and that is tomorrow against Real Sociedad. Then we’ll see how we want to play and prepare for PSG. Right now, we’ve had four wins in a row, and we have to keep it up and show our fans tomorrow the same spirit as last season. It doesn’t matter how many matches we have with injured players; only those who can play, who will surely do a great job.”

The German coach has been embroiled in some controversy as he directly criticized Luis de la Fuente for his treatment of Lamine Yamal. He was once again asked to comment on this subject in this presser, to which he replied:

Although Hansi Flick is right to focus on the upcoming game against Real Sociedad, there is no doubt that the fans will be excited to watch that game, and hopefully, Barcelona can win the upcoming league game to ensure they go into the UCL tie in top form.