Barcelona manager Hansi Flick looked largely pleased with his side during their first preseason friendly as part of their preseason tour in the United States, following a 2-2 draw with Manchester City – Barcelona then won the penalty shoot-out 4-1. Flick also pointed towards Pep Guardiola’s side as a model to follow.
Speaking to the press after the match, Flick was pleased with the collective effort of his side, although noted that he would rather play further up the pitch.
“We were really good against a great team. We defended together and attacked together, as a team, and that’s what we want. We fought for each other. Maybe in the first half we were too deep, our idea is to be a little more advanced, we need more possession, but we were playing against Manchester City…”
“Pep Guardiola has been there for eight years and we want to do the same as them at a philosophical level. Maybe a little different but with that idea,” Flick told Sport.
Flick: "I'm proud of the young players. We also had a fantastic goalkeeper. We have been a team and Ander Astralaga was also important during penalties."
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) July 31, 2024
Barcelona began with a defence of youngster Gerard Martin, Clement Lenglet, Sergi Dominguez and Hector Fort, and suffered early on down their right side, but closed things down better in the second half.
“I wasn’t sure if we could be at a great level defensively, but we did. It was a great match.”
“We have already been talking to the players and we will continue doing so from the staff to tell them what we want from them. I already spoke in my presentation of La Masia.”
Flick was also asked about young midfield pairing of Marc Casado and Marc Bernal, who were praised for their energy and use of the ball in midfield.
Hansi Flick🗣️
"We fought for each other. Maybe in the first half we were too deep, our idea is to be a little more advanced, we need more possession, but we were playing against Manchester City…"pic.twitter.com/Oe249LRbbW
— Football España (@footballespana_) July 31, 2024
“I don’t want to focus on names after just one game. They did really well. Like I said, we attacked together and defended together, we showed them what we wanted and the boys did very well against a fantastic team.”
Barcelona will face Real Madrid next on Saturday night at 01:00am Spanish time. Previous friendly meetings between the pair have still been quite aggressive, but it remains to be seen how many first-team players will be present. Flick did not call on any of Barcelona’s starters from last season from the beginning against City.
