Rabat – Barcelona coach Hansi Flick didn’t hide his frustration after his team lost 2-1 away to Girona in La Liga on Monday. The defeat hurt Barcelona’s title hopes and left them behind Real Madrid in the standings.
At Montilivi, Barcelona started well and created chances. Raphinha hit the post, and Lamine Yamal missed a penalty before half-time.
Pau Cubarsi gave Barcelona the lead with a header in the 59th minute, but Thomas Lemar quickly equalised for Girona. Late in the game, Fran Beltran scored in the 86th minute to seal the win.
After the match, Flick admitted his team was struggling. “We are not in a good moment,” he said. “We defended very badly, especially in transition. Girona had many chances to win, and they deserved it.”
He refused to blame the referee or VAR, despite a controversial moment before Girona’s second goal. “I don’t want to speak about that. Everyone saw the situation before the second goal.”
The German couch also spoke about the bigger picture. “We are not in our best shape. The road back to competing for the top of the table is still long,” he said. He noted that the players looked tired both physically and mentally.
“The team needs more desire to win, better control of games, and fewer mistakes. There are no excuses. We did not do our job properly, and we must improve.”
Barcelona now sit two points behind Real Madrid, who won earlier in the weekend. The loss comes after a tough run, including a 4-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg, which Flick had called a wake-up call.
Looking ahead, Flick stressed the need to regroup. “We will give the team days off so they can recover, but we have work to do if we are going to challenge for first place again.”