Champions League Most Important, But Barca Must Win Derby- Flick
Barcelona’s German coach Hans-Dieter Flick gives a press conference on the eve of their UEFA Champions League quarter final football match against Club Atletico de Madrid(Photo by MANAURE QUINTERO / AFP) Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672569656851-0"); }); Barcelona’s main goal this season is to win the Champions League but coach Hansi Flick on Friday told his players to focus on this weekend’s La Liga derby against Espanyol. Atletico Madrid beat Barca 2-0 at Camp Nou in the quarter-final first leg in midweek, leaving the Catalans with an uphill struggle next Tuesday in the Spanish capital. Barcelona’s Spanish forward #10 Lamine Yamal and teammates attend a training session on the eve of their UEFA Champions League quarter final football match against Club Atletico de Madrid (Photo by MANAURE QUINTERO / AFP) League leaders Barca host local rivals Espanyol on Saturday with a seven-point gap to Real Madrid in second. “The dream for every player, the club, the fans, the coaches is to win the Champions League,” Flick told reporters. Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672569913499-0"); }); “In every (European) game you see the team is five percent more motivated (above) 100 percent. This is the competition, this is why we are here. “We have to make our daily job, this is La Liga, but in the end the most important thing is to win the Champions League. This is the goal from my side, the players and the club.” Five-time Champions League winners Barca last won the trophy in 2015. Barcelona’s German coach Hans-Dieter Flick leads a training session on the eve of their UEFA Champions League quarter final football match against Club Atletico de Madrid (Photo by MANAURE QUINTERO / AFP) READ ALSO: Atletico Punish 10-Man Barcelona, Take Control Of Champions League Tie Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672587799169-0"); }); The reigning Spanish champions beat Espanyol in January and since then Manolo Gonzalez’s side have failed to win a single match and have fallen to 10th after a strong first half of the season. “We have a lot of players from La Masia (the club’s youth academy), they know exactly what it means to play against Espanyol,” said Flick. “It’s a derby, we are playing at home and I want to win it.” The coach indicated that he would “manage minutes” by rotating some players between the two Atletico clashes, but said that “whoever is starting tomorrow will be a fantastic team”. Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672587060870-0"); }); Flick said that his players will not be distracted by the visit to the Metropolitano stadium next week. “This is their job, what they have to do. They are very focussed and ready for tomorrow,” added the German coach. AFP Join Our Whatsapp Channel To join: Simply click on the link below & turn on notifications to get the latest updates Subscribe to Our Newsletter In This Article: Barca Champions league Hansi Flick More Stories Araujo Heads Barca To Victory Over Rayo Vallecano Barca Permitted To Expand Camp Nou Capacity To 63,000 Repeating Super Cup Success Will Give Barca ‘Energy’ — Flick /* * * CONFIGURATION VARIABLES: EDIT BEFORE PASTING INTO YOUR WEBPAGE * * / var disqus_shortname = 'channelstelevision'; // Required - Replace example with your forum shortname / * * DON'T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE * * */ (function() { var dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text/javascript'; dsq.async = true; dsq.src = '//' + disqus_shortname + '.disqus.com/embed.js'; (document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq); })(); Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.