FC Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick hailed ‘three important points’ after his team came back from behind to beat Alaves in La Liga on Saturday.
The club’s 126th anniversary was marred by many season ticket holders being left out on the street across Travessera de les Corts, and forming an angry queue to the club’s offices at Camp Nou.
Two apps for both members and season ticket holders weren’t working for hours before kick off, meaning many had to have their match tickets printed out on a piece of paper by club officials.
Around 20 minutes into the fixture, many Culers gave up and managed to gain access to the ground by simply showing security email confirmation of their tickets.
As per the match itself, Barca went 1-0 down within a minute. Thanks to a goal by Lamine Yamal and a brace from Dani Olmo, however, the home side returned to the La Liga summit when all was said and done.
“In the first half we had chances to score and in the second as well. It’s wonderful to get the three points but we have to improve our effectiveness in front of goal. I’m not happy with some situations because we lost balls,” Flick said post-match.
“We don’t have the control and intensity of last season. They told me that we have the same points (34 on matchday 34). I don’t care either, but we need to improve more things, but this season we have had more injuries. We are working. Last year everyone could play from the start and they could improve.”
Flick praised individual FC Barcelona stars
Despite those remarks, however, there was individual praise for some players such as Pedri and Raphinha.
“He gives us a lot of dynamism and it’s very important. His intensity is high and when he presses, the rest are ready to do it too. It’s very good to have him back, there are things to improve but he will do it,” Flick first said about the Brazilian, before moving on to the Spaniard.
“I’m very happy that they’re back. It has not been easy to manage the minutes. Raphinha could only play 60 minutes and Pedri, 30. We’ll see how many minutes they play on Tuesday. I spoke with Pedri after the game and he’s fine.”
As Flick hinted, FC Barcelona returns to action midweek against Atletico Madrid in La Liga.
