Barcelona sluggish in Champions League but Flick optimistic team can rebound
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MADRID (AP) — Hansi Flick says his Barcelona team must play with “greater aggression” now that it finds itself in a Champions League mini-slump.
Barcelona’s 3-0 loss to Chelsea on Tuesday left the team in 15th place ahead of Wednesday’s games, and it followed a 3-3 draw at Club Brugge. In both matches, defensive mistakes were costly.
At Stamford Bridge, Barcelona was outplayed and its attack failed to score for the first time in 53 games. It was a reality check for the Catalan club, which has been doing well in Spain.
“We definitely need to be more dynamic and play with greater aggression,” Flick said.
It was Barcelona’s second defeat in the Champions League. It lost at home to Paris Saint-Germain in early October. With three games left in the league phase, Barcelona hosts Eintracht Frankfurt next month.
“We have to accept the defeat and stay positive about what comes next,” Flick said after Tuesday’s loss. “I saw positive things and I believe we can still take the nine points left to play for.”
Flick said things might have been different in London had Ferran Torres converted on his close-range opportunity in the fifth minute, when he missed from near the penalty spot with only the goalkeeper to beat. He said defender Ronald Araujo’s red card in the 44th also played a big role.
“We started very well and had a very big opportunity to score the first goal” he said. ”Then the red card changed the match, and it’s not easy to recover against a team like Chelsea when you’re a man down.”
Flick said it was also costly that the team “lost some easy balls.”
Chelsea controlled possession and had three times more attempts than Barcelona, which saw young star Lamine Yamal struggle to produce much throughout the match.
Barcelona had not failed to score at least once in a game since December 2024 against Leganes in the Spanish league, marking the longest streak in the club’s history.
Of those 53 games, Barcelona won 39, drew seven and lost seven, scoring 151 goals in the process.
It was Barcelona’s fourth loss in its last 10 matches across all competitions, with the others coming when it faced other difficult opponents such as Real Madrid, Sevilla and PSG.
Barcelona hosts Alaves on Saturday in the Spanish league.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer