Flick explains reason for not using €60 million-rated Barcelona star in Las Palmas defeat | OneFootball

Barcelona failed to win their third La Liga match in a row as they suffered a 1-2 loss at the hands of Las Palmas at the Montjuic Stadium earlier today.

Former Barça man Sandro Ramirez gave the Canary Islanders the lead before Raphinha levelled things. However, Fabio Silva was at hand to score what would turn out to be the eventual match-winning strike for Diego Martinez’s side.

Flick explains Dani Olmo absence

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick made some notable changes to the side today, one of which saw Dani Olmo getting benched in favour of Pablo Torre.

Reports had emerged stating that Olmo was dealing with some discomfort and had not trained at his fullest yesterday, and as it turned out, the summer signing ended up not playing any part in the game.

Explaining the Spanish international’s absence, Flick said: “Olmo has a minor problem, but we need him for the upcoming matches, so we decided not to play him.

“I hope Dani Olmo is available to face Mallorca,” he further added.

Flick on the result

Echoing what he said in the post-match interview, Flick once again pointed out Barcelona’s failure to capitalise on the chances that they created during the game.

“We shot 22 times, we have to score goals. And defensively, what we did today has nothing to do with what we did earlier in the season. We are very disappointed,” he said.

“Normally we should have won a match like this.”

Not happy with the result. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)

“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,” the German added.

Insisting that things like these can happen one-off, he remarked: “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.”

However, he did make it clear that there needs to be a talk and that the team must improve in some aspects.

“If some players feel disconnected, things are not going well. We have to talk about it,” said Flick. “We have to play better against Mallorca on Tuesday.”

Looking at the situation, the Barcelona manager further added: “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.

“My method to fix this is to trust the players and make them trust themselves. We will talk to the players.”

Source: BarçaOne