“I love this club and these players. I am very happy here and in this city. I will give the best of myself.” This is what Hans Dieter Flick said yesterday at a press conference before facing Club Brugge in the UEFA Champions League. Installed on the prestigious bench of FC Barcelona since the summer of 2024, the one who succeeded Xavi Hernandez experienced success during his first season. Indeed, his Barça was crowned champion of Spain. He also won the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup. In the Champions League, his team, very impressive throughout the season, was eliminated in the semi-final by Inter Milan.
Flick ready to leave earlier than expected
Either way, it’s been a great season for the 60-year-old German, who was voted La Liga coach of the year. It was therefore particularly anticipated for this new exercise. His second at the head of the Blaugrana club. But for the moment, everything is not going perfectly for Flick, whose team is second, 5 lengths behind Real Madrid in the league. She also lost the Clasico. In C1, she is currently 12th with 2 wins and 1 loss against PSG, pending tonight’s match. Beyond the results, the game proposed by Barça is less exciting and therefore more criticized than last year. Not to mention that the Catalans are facing numerous injuries.
Despite all this, the former Bayern Munich coach is trying to move forward. But this Wednesday, ABC drops a real bomb. The Spanish media reveals that Flick has communicated to his staff since last September his wish to leave at the end of the 2025-26 season. On the other hand, he did not discuss it with his president Joan Laporta and sporting director Deco, with whom he maintains good relations. The German, who is under contract until 2027, is “very tired” and would already be exhausted this season as he let his loved ones know.
The exasperated German
Flick, who has never hidden that he would not stay more than 3 years, does not rule out leaving well before and bringing forward his departure by a year. ABC clarifies that his thinking is not linked to the team’s results. He admitted to his staff that he did not feel supported enough by the club’s board of directors and that he was “very frustrated by the attitude of some of his players”which he judges “dispersed”. The coach was not used to this in Munich or with the German selection, he who shows extreme rigor. He is exasperated by the lack of involvement of his players, but also by the egos of some of them. This is the case of Lamine Yamal, with whom he gets along well. But the Barcelona coach does not understand why Barça gives him preferential treatment and gives in to all his eccentricities and whims.
ABC clarified that he did not appreciate that the player was allowed to fly to Milan after the Clasico instead of returning with the team to Barcelona. He also doesn’t like that he waits at the table to be served by a member of the club staff instead of getting up to help himself during meals or that he is authorized by the club to drive the golf carts reserved for staff in the training center. Not to mention all the marketing operations or with the Kings League which tire the recently injured player. Little details that pile up and send Flick into a tailspin, who is fed up with having to respond to the press on the subject. The coach is very attached to discipline, healthy group life and fair management. What he does not find at FC Barcelona, which he is seriously considering leaving if things do not change according to ABC. Atmosphere.
