Hansi Flick gives his verdict after Barcelona advance to the UCL semis despite Dortmund defeat | OneFootball

Last night was quite a mixed one for FC Barcelona. On the one hand, the Blaugranes made their way to the semi-finals of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 2018-19 season. On the other, they lost for the first time since the start of this year, ending the game against Borussia Dortmund 3-1, but advancing with an aggregate score of 5-3.

As SPORT has reported, Hansi Flick admitted that his team was not at its best level in this game, but also expressed his satisfaction with the fact that his men have achieved their goal of reaching the semi-finals:

“It wasn’t our best day… The atmosphere was incredible and the opponent, very strong. It’s not easy to play these kinds of matches… In the end, we qualified — that was our goal, and we achieved it.”

Hansi Flick further expressed his happiness on reaching the semi-finals:

“The Champions League is the best competition in the world, and reaching the semifinals is great for the club, the fans, and the team.”

However, the German coach did not reveal the opponent he would prefer facing in this next round of the competition:

“I don’t have a preference, I’ll just sit at home, watch the game on TV, and enjoy it.”

The Barcelona trainer understood that his team did not play at its expected level:

“It wasn’t our best game, and I understand the questions about it… The mood in the dressing room wasn’t too great either, but I told them we should be happy because we’ve reached the semifinals.”

Despite the defeat last night, the Blaugrana coach wanted to focus on the positives:

“We didn’t play our best, but we’re in the semifinals and we have to look at things positively instead of focusing on the negatives. What this team is doing is phenomenal — they’ve played so many matches, yet they always want to train. We’ll talk about the things that didn’t work, but we’ve fought hard and we’re not at the end yet.”

Analysing the defeat, the German coach did not want to highlight any weaknesses in his team:

“The atmosphere was spectacular and the opponent did a lot of things well… We’ll analyze that [the weaknesses] tomorrow, but I fully trust my team and we’ll get back on track.”

Lastly, Flick also revealed why Pedri did not start this game last night:

“He needed a rest, but it was important for him to play because he contributes a lot with the ball and also defensively. It was important for him to play fewer minutes, but also to help us out.”

Seeing their winning streak coming to end will definitely not be a good feeling for Barcelona fans. However, if there was one game they could afford to lose, it was this one, and hopefully, the Blaugranes will return to winning ways when they return to action in La Liga this weekend.