Barcelona manager Hansi Flick opened up about his spate of emotional outbursts, most recently after Ronald Araujo’s stoppage-time winner vs Girona which got him sent off, saying that the Catalan club has changed him. The 60-year-old who was shown a red for protesting against refereeing decisions said that he was overwhelmed by emotions.
“I’m not more nervous, maybe my emotions are not the same as before. I remember when I was coaching Bayern Munich, there were images of us winning 8-2 against Barca, and I never smiled with the eight goals,” he said ahead of Barcelona’s Champions League fixture vs Olympiakos Piraeus.
“Now I have more emotions; this club have completely changed me. What I can say is that I love this club, I love Barcelona, I love the people here, it’s incredible, and I give my all for this club.
To be honest, I don’t like these things when I see myself on TV, and I don’t like my grandchildren seeing their grandfather like that, so maybe I have to change my behaviour,” he added.
In Barcelona’s last Champions League encounter, they narrowly lost to holders Paris Saint Germain 1-2. Ahead of the Olympiakos Piraeus match, Barca are enduring a challenging period with a spate of injuries to key players, including Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo.
Flick is left with limited options in attack and is likely to field a front three of Fermin Lopez on the left wing, Marcus Rashford as the central striker and 18-year-old Lamine Yamal on the right against Olympiakos.
“Marcus can be a number 9 or a number 11. When we think of him, we value the fact that he can play in more than one position,” Flick said. “He has given us a lot of positives and, of course, he can play as a centre forward.”
Barca are 16th in the Champions League table on three points from two games, while Olympiakos are 29th with one point.
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The Catalan club have appealed against Flick’s sending off, aiming to ensure he will be on the touchline on Saturday at Real Madrid, who second-placed Barcelona trail by two points in La Liga, although the coach acknowledged it is a long-shot.
“I had nothing against the referee, I wasn’t complaining at him but he saw it that way and I have to accept it,” Flick said.
“Today the atmosphere was very good. I like to see this kind of spirit. We are a young team that needs this.”
(With agency inputs)
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