Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said his players are not short on confidence after Saturday’s 2-1 loss to Las Palmas but admitted his side is disjointed in attack and defence as its winless run in La Liga extended to three games.
LaLiga leader Barcelona’s 125th anniversary celebrations was spoiled by Las Palmas, leaving Flick’s side four points ahead of Real Madrid who is now in the driver’s seat with two games in hand.
“I don’t think there is a lack of confidence in the players. Players alone can’t win games, it’s always about the team. We need to have good connections in defence and in attack, and today we didn’t have them,” Flick told reporters.
“I believe in the players. I have confidence in them, but things are as they are. When I started here I told them there would be no excuses. It’s normal that some players, when they come back from injury, are not at the highest level. But if we play as a team we should be able to beat any team, but if some players are disconnected it doesn’t go well,” he added.
Barcelona does not play at home again until mid-December, with its next three games away at Mallorca and Real Betis in La Liga followed by Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.
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“We have to accept the slump, now another month starts. The team has the quality. Today it was not possible. In front of goal we were not able to score,” Flick said.
Barca’s Raphinha scored the equaliser in the second half while he also hit the crossbar and saw a free kick tipped over the bar, and the winger said they had to find a way to turn things around to get back to winning ways.
“We were bad in the game. We have to look at what we are doing wrong to try to improve and win the games,” he said.
“We have dropped the level of what we were doing and this is making games more difficult for us. I don’t care about the goal, I cared about the victory. We didn’t win and I’m not satisfied with the match. Am I angry? Yes,” he added
He also criticised what he believed were time-wasting tactics from Las Palmas in the second half as it looked to seal a famous win.
“I don’t want to talk about it because they can use it against me and punish me, but in the second half, only 30 minutes were played instead of the 45 required. They know what they’re doing better than I do,” Raphinha said.
Content Source: sportstar.thehindu.com