Barcelona continue to attach more impressive feats to their name under the guidance of Hansi Flick. Prior to their recent game against Villarreal, La Blaugrana boasted the best record in La Liga with five wins from five games. Now, however, Barcelona boast an even more impressive record.
With a 5-1 demolition of Villarreal, La Blaugrana have managed to win six games out of the six that they have played. This takes their season’s points tally to 18 and they continue to hold a healthy four-point lead over Real Madrid, as Los Blancos hold onto second place for now.
However, not everything is sunshine and rainbows for Barcelona as the Catalan giants have lost yet another crucial player to injury. Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, a player who was heavily critiqued for his performance in the loss against Monaco, has now been injured against Villarreal and it looks to be a serious issue.
Following this injury, as highlighted by SPORT, Hansi Flick has now provided an update about the player’s injury and it does not look like an optimistic one: “We have to wait. It looks like a serious injury, he felt it, and you could see it on the field.”
However, Flick was not fully committed to just making the press conference all gloomy, especially after the kind of victory his team managed over Villarreal. For him, it was a match worth congratulating his Barcelona team over:
“We won 5-1 in Villarreal. It was a fantastic match from both teams. Very entertaining, back and forth. I congratulate my team, they did very well.”
As for the opportunities that Villarreal got, the Barcelona coach wanted to make sure that it was clear that this is his philosophy of playing football and it comes with risks as well:
“Villarreal had clear chances. Pressing high is part of our style. You have to stay compact. We did that very well; it’s a risk, but we’ve been successful so far in the league.”
Lastly, he even managed to get out some words of praise for his attacking trio of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, and Lamine Yamal, all of whom were essential in getting the win over their opponents:
“Since day one, they’ve been this good. I saw a player giving everything for this club. Off the ball, how they defend, how they hold onto the ball. Both Raphinha and Lewandowski. Also Lamine… Having them is a great asset.”
Flick’s record in La Liga so far has been spotless with Barcelona, but with the injuries that are beginning to pile up, it has to be said that the team looks to be in a very vulnerable position at the moment and the German coach could have a hard time figuring out his options moving forward.