Hansi Flick defends Barcelona star after Atlético Madrid draw | OneFootball

Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has moved to defend a member of his attacking ranks, who came in for heavy criticism on Tuesday night.

The player in question? Ferran Torres.

Frontman Ferran was of course afforded something of a rare starting berth yesterday evening, as Barcelona welcomed Atlético Madrid to Catalunya’s capital for a Copa del Rey clash.

As much came amid what has been a fine recent spell of individual form on the part of the former Manchester City man.

Ferran, however, failed to take advantage of his latest opportunity to put pressure on Robert Lewandowski for a regular starting berth.

En route to a pulsating 4-4 draw, the Spanish international was responsible for two glaring misses in front of goal, both from one-on-one situations.

Such woes culminated in Ferran being singled out for heavy blame on the back of the full-time whistle at Montjuïc.

As alluded to above, though, during his post-match press conference, boss Hansi Flick was quick to launch a stern defence of the 24-year-old:

“Lewandowski scored an important goal for us today, but Ferran played well against Betis and Valencia. He scored goals and deserved to start.”

Conor Laird – GSFN