Wednesday 11/March/2026 – 12:49 AM
Via the German coach Hans Flick Barcelona’s coach expressed his satisfaction with his team’s draw against Newcastle United in the first leg of the round of 16 of the 2025-2026 Champions League.
The Barcelona team, led by Flick, tied with its counterpart, Newcastle United, in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League, with a score of 1-1, as the match was held on the grounds of St. James Park Stadium, the stronghold of the English team.
Statements of Barcelona coach Hansi Flick
Hansi Flick said during press statements after the end of the match: We were not good, but we took advantage of the opportunity we had. It is not easy to play in this stadium. The positive thing is the result. We will see a different match at Camp Nou.
The German coach continued: With the ball, we did not play a good match. We lost a lot of balls and made easy mistakes, and as you know this is what Newcastle usually wants. When they recover the ball, their transitions are good. They have a lot of dynamism and very fast players, so it was not easy. The thing that I appreciated a lot from my team is that we defended together. We defended as one team, and the defensive performance was very good today.
Flick added: When you asked me before the match, I said that a 1-1 draw would make me happy, so this is what I can say now, and of course, as you know, we have no excuses.
He continued: We did not want to take a risk with Eric, because he is a very important player for us, who can play in several positions, and that is why I said I would not risk him.
He explained: There are no excuses, believe me, we have enough players here, and you can also see when Spart entered the match, he was great, he entered directly and was present, even in individual confrontations, and this is what I want to see, and I am very happy about that.
He stressed: Today’s match was very strong from a physical standpoint. Therefore, there are players who did not participate in a large number of matches, and they also returned after a long period of rest, and Marc Bernal as well, so they must improve step by step, and they will improve, and this is very important for us, and they must gradually advance towards a better level, and this is what I want to see. It’s not easy, because the atmosphere here was great, and they also played a great match. As I said, they have a lot of dynamism and very, very fast players, and it is not easy to face them, you have to always be very focused and attentive, and we did that very well defensively.
He stated: As you saw, it was not easy to come up with the ball, and we committed a lot of mistakes. Usually you can see that when we have control and keep the ball it becomes easier for us, but that did not happen much today. This is how the match was. We have to accept that, but we must be much better next week.
Regarding Arajo, Flick said: He did his job. We didn’t want to change too many positions, so it was clear to me that we would play with the same defensive line. Then I asked Ronald if he was able to play in that position, and he said yes, and I think he did a good job. In the end you saw that he was tired after the long run, and he didn’t come back in time, but we also had enough players inside the box to control that cross. As I said before, they also deserved that goal of course, and I’m happy that we scored and got back in the score.
He explained: I see that we have a young team, especially in the centre-back positions, where the two players are doing a great job. In the last matches, it was really great to see how they develop and how they play together. It is a very good thing, but yes, we have to improve. We have a lot of potential and we must take advantage of it, and we must make things better and perform better.
He added: Right now we have to rest. The task now is for the players to rest and prepare well for the next match. We have a game on Sunday, so we have some days to prepare well.
Watm: We don’t have actual days off, but that’s normal. When you play at this level, between the Champions League and the Spanish League, it is normal to have matches every three or four days. We have to adapt to that and do things well during this period between matches.
