One would think that FC Barcelona with the form that they have started the season with would demolish Las Palmas at home. Especially given the special occasion of their 125th Anniversary last night. Los Cules celebrated their special date in a pompous manner on Friday with many club legends past and present attending the ceremony. Perhaps the players enjoyed it a bit too much or something. When the Canary Island side visited them at the Montjuic Barcelona put in one of the most unspirited performances of the season.
Coming off a 3-0 victory in the Champions League against Brest, today was supposed to be a walkover win over Las Palmas. But as it would turn out, Las Palmas walked away with a 2-1 victory. At the same time, this itself will be a minor blip in an otherwise long season. This loss will give arch-rivals Real Madrid loads of confidence. Since dropping points tonight means FC Barcelona is only 4 points ahead of Los Blancos. But the catch is that Madrid still has two games in hand. The Mbappe-led outfit will be up against Getafe tomorrow in La Liga.
Losing to a 14th place side might prove to be the start of the Catalan Club’s downfall in the Spanish League. Real Madrid might be out of form but it’s difficult to think that they would pass up on an opportunity to top the Table just like that. Best believe FC Barcelona will end up on second place at the end of the two matches that Madrid have in hand.
Hansi Flick’s Mantra To Get FC Barcelona On Track
During the post-match conference, Hansi Flick drove home the point that the way out of this was to keep trusting the players to do their best. Flick stated, “My method to fix this is to trust the players and make them trust themselves. We will talk to the players.” The German coach continued, “We dominated possession and had a lot of shots. In defence, it’s not just about the back line, it’s about looking at the team as a whole. We must not leave spaces for the opponent.”
Talking about the game and the dressing room mentality, he stated, “In terms of players, we have a good team. Things like today can happen. It’s normal that when someone returns from injury, he does not perform at the same level. When I arrived, I always said that I was not going to make excuses. We have to accept the situation and continue moving forward as a team.”
Do you trust Hansi Flick to turn the situation around at FC Barcelona? Let us know in the comments below.
