Hansi Flick reacts to referee controversy after Barcelona lose to Real Sociedad – “Everyone has seen it” | OneFootball

Barcelona fell to their first defeat in 12 matches on Sunday, as they lost 2-1 to Real Sociedad in Donostia-San Sebastian. It means that Catalans’ in the La Liga title race is down to one point, with Real Madrid having won 24 hours prior.

As per Marca, head coach Hansi Flick reacted to the defeat. He was pleased with the overall performance, but bemoaned individual errors.

“I’m not happy. I’m disappointed, we had a lot of clear chances and the result doesn’t reflect what we’ve seen. But I like how we played. We made mistakes in defence, we have to defend better. We were unfortunate in attack as well. We have to accept it. We must focus on the next game, which is very important. Every three days there are meetings. Today we were unlucky.

“Our game has been good. We were able to defend better in a couple of actions, but I’m satisfied overall. We’ve played very well in the last two weeks and we have to keep it up, we can’t focus on the referee. We will concentrate on what we can change.”

Image via Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

Flick: There is a lack of communication with Gil Manzano

Flick also spoke on the performance of referee Jesus Gil Manzano, who was criticised immediately after the match by Barcelona stand-in captain Frenkie de Jong.

“That’s what he said and I agree. I’m not going to spend time or energy on that. I’m not disappointed with the referee. Everyone has seen it. I won’t waste energy on that. We focus on ourselves. We should have scored more goals, we had chances. We come back without points.

“Before the game, I already read comments about the referee. I always speak well of them. But Frenkie is right, he is calm. He is the captain. He’s on the pitch, he wants to talk to him and he can’t. Sometimes I also want to talk to the fourth official and I can’t talk, you have to accept it. I don’t know if there is a lack of communication with the referees in Spain, but with Gil Manzano there is a lack of communication.”