Barcelona Win Big, Hansi Flick: Tough Match In Champions League

Barcelona played a difficult match despite a 5-2 win against Crvena Zvezda in the Champions League. (X/@FCBarcelona)

JAKARTA - Barcelona again won a big 5-2 win against Crvena Zvezda or Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League match. But coach Hansi Flick said that Barca actually had difficulty facing their opponents.

Winning with many goals does not mean Barca get through the match easily. In the duel at Rajko Mitic Stadium, Thursday, November 7, 2024 in the morning WIB, Barca were already ahead when Inigo Martinez scored in the 13th minute.

However, Crvena Zvezda managed to equalize the score even though then striker Robert Lewandowski scored a brace that gave Barca a 3-1 lead. Furthermore, Raphinha and Fermin Lopez solidified the victory to 5-1. Crvena Zvezda can still add one goal through Milson so that the match ends 5-2.

According to Flick, although he was able to score five goals, Barca actually played a difficult match. In fact, he really felt relieved that the Blaugrana could get three points.

"The most important thing is that we can get three points. It's a win that's not easy. The away match in the Champions League is definitely very difficult," said Flick, who led Bayern Munich to win the 2020 Champions League.

"I'm certainly very happy and I really appreciate what the team has done. We are able to excel in possession of the ball so we can put pressure on it. The Red Star is playing very well. They know how to play the ball. We are also difficult to defend against them," he said.

"I appreciate players who focused for 90 minutes. This is not an easy thing," said Flick again.

Barca showed aggressiveness in the attacking game that made Lamine Yamal et al score a big win. In the La Liga Spanish competition, Barca successfully slaughtered Real Madrid 4-0 in El Clasico and then won 3-1 over Espanyol. Barca also demonstrated an aggressive game when destroying Bayern Munich 4-1 in the Champions League.

"From the start of the competition, we tried to always score goals. We played attacking football without losing how to survive," said Lewandowski, who is the top scorer of the Champions League with his partner Raphinha, Bayern striker Harry Kane and Sporting forward Viktor Gyokeres. They both scored five goals.

"Everything is going almost perfectly," said the Polish national team striker in response to the match against Crvena Zvezda.

"But we have to be better. I think this new Champions League format makes the match very important. In the first half, we played slowly. But in the second half, we played very well and created many chances," he said.

After a landslide win in an away match in European competition, Barca will face Celta Vigo in the domestic competition. Furthermore, Flick's troops returned to compete in the Champions League by serving his guest Brest.