For the first time this season in La Liga, FC Barcelona lost. On the Osasuna pitch for the 6th day of the Spanish Championship, the Catalans failed to make the difference and fell heavily (2-4). If they are still first in the standings, they risk seeing Real Madrid return to a small point in the event of victory in the Catalan derby against Atlético de Madrid this Sunday evening. And obviously, this kind of defeat does not pass muster with the local press.
Hansi Flick was not spared
Indeed, Hansi Flick was named primarily responsible for this defeat by the Catalan press, due to several tactical choices to make his holders breathe. With already eight major injuries, including those of Marc-André ter Stegen and Dani Olmo in particular, the German decided to rotate by aligning Gerard Martin on the left side, Eric Garcia in front of central defense, Pablo Torre in midfield, Ferran Torres and Pau Victor alongside Robert Lewandowski.
For Sportthis defeat sounded like “a Flickada”, thus criticizing the choices of the German manager. For A.S., “Barça is derailed due to Hansi Flick’s too much rotation”. “Braked, the leader suffers from excessive rotations,” also adds the Mundo Deportivo. Another example, theSports speaks of a “Barça too soft, with too many absences and rotations, which suffers from the intensity of Osasuna and loses its first points”.
Hansi Flick’s justifications
“It wasn’t a good game, we made a lot of mistakes, we made a lot of changes to the team and maybe that’s one of the reasons, but the changes were necessary, There are a lot of matches and a lot of minutes accumulated. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s me. It’s my duty to take care of the players. Many mistakes were made. The players were overworked and today we had to rest.first assured the Catalan technician.
“We had to make changes because the players played a lot of minutes. I decided to do this so I take responsibility, the players have nothing to do with it. After the national team break, the players will come back, we will have more choices, the many changes are not an excuse, we had no other choice.he added to the press. And that won’t stop, since Barça will play against Young Boys of Bern in C1, Tuesday, then against Alavés, next Sunday.
