Hansi Flick knows what his men can do at their best, but he has engaged in a little cajoling to get the group back on track. Back to top form on the weekend, he has told his men that the trip to Newcastle United "will not be an easy match" as Barcelona kick off their Champions League campaign.
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We did not have the quality we normally have’
A mixed start to the domestic campaign
Barcelona were one of the few big European clubs not to play in the Club World Cup this summer. They then won all of their preseason encounters, scoring 20 times across four fixtures. However, the domestic campaign has not been the best, with Real Madrid two points ahead at the end of August.
Flick was critical after a 3-0 win over Levante, a second half comeback was needed against Levante, and his men drew 1-1 at Rayo Vallecano. They needed to go back to basics and put in a performance that was worthy of the defending champions as they smashed six goals past Valencia on Sunday.
“Preseason was okay. We won every match, and it was okay. But I think in the first matches we did not have the quality we normally have. And I said it also clearly what I want from my players, and we spoke to show things we missed in this matches and on Sunday it was it was more like last season.”
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‘Everyone is included. Everyone wants the ball.’
The German can live with ups and downs from his players, especially a group with so many young men as key parts of the puzzle. But he hopes that they have set a standard that now stays in place.
“This is for me good to see this that we improve a lot in these things and because everyone knows that we can do it and in this game it's the same. We have to do from the beginning, and we have to start with intensity and against Valencia we did it.”
Apart from the size of the scoreline, he discussed the things that made this victory so impressive.
“I think what we what we saw on Sunday against Valencia was really good. I was really happy to see how the team is playing in every part of the game. The defence and offence was like what we want to play. Defending as a unit but also with the ball, everyone is included. Everyone wants the ball.”
For the Blaugrana to beat Newcastle, they will need to bring their best selves to St. James' Park.
“With this confidence also it's very important also for tomorrow to see how good we are with the ball and use the spaces they would give us and but it will not be an easy match. It's Champions League and there are fantastic teams there and especially from the Premier League they are really strong.”
