‘We’ve learned a lot’… Hansi Flick talks Barcelona, Atalanta, and room for improvement | OneFootball

The new format of the UEFA Champions League has not been unkind to FC Barcelona. Instead, it has given the Catalan giants the opportunity to show their consistency over a longer period of time. Thanks to that opportunity, Barcelona now find themselves in second place in the competition’s league phase.

They have managed to secure this position after a recent 2-2 draw against Atalanta. While it may not be exactly the result that Barcelona needed, it was good enough to see them stay in second place and ultimately continue progressing directly to the Round of 16.

Even after the game, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick spoke about the match itself and confessed that he thought of the second place as a good final standing and considers it to be a great success for the team, as highlighted by AS:

“I’m happy with second place after this group stage. I think it’s a great success for the team. It was a tough game. I think we could have done a little better, but overall we’re satisfied with the result and the fact that we finished second in the group.”

However, while Barça was battling Atalanta, first-placed Liverpool managed to succumb to a defeat at the hands of Dutch side PSV. Still, Flick revealed that he was not paying attention to that game: “No, not at all.”

As for areas of improvement, Barcelona desperately need to improve on their defensive setup and coordination due to the mere fact that clean sheets have now become a rarity, and Flick seems to agree with the assessment:

“That’s something we need to improve, yes, our defensive work. We’re happy with finishing in this position, but we need to work on many things. We have the potential to do more, and now we’ll have a few weeks to work more in training.”

In terms of the match itself, the Barcelona coach confessed that the clash against Atalanta enabled him to learn a lot more and that it would only end up helping him.

“Without a doubt, it was a great football match because Atalanta defends really well one-on-one. We’ve learned a lot from this game, looking ahead to the future.”

Still, even with Barcelona already being aware of the possible opponents that they could face in the next round, the team continues to focus on humility and taking things one step at a time, and that is exactly what Flick wants from them:

“It’s too early to talk about opponents. We’ll see what happens.”

For now, Hansi Flick can take a break from the European stage and focus on helping his team get back on track in La Liga. While other competitions may see Barcelona in a better position, the Spanish league is one where the team desperately needs to turn their situation around.