Barcelona Decides on Flick's Fate Following Atletico Madrid Defeat, According to SPORT Reports
Based on SPORT, which relied on anonymous sources, FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta continues to have "complete trust" in his head coach Hansi Flick, despite Barcelona's first team enduring its third straight La Liga home loss against Atletico Madrid in Montjuic on Saturday.
Barca and Atleti began the massive showdown tied on points atop the Spanish top league standings. However, while Barcelona had suffered back-to-back losses to smaller opponents Las Palmas and Leganes, Diego Simeone's team had won 12 straight matches and also held a game advantage.
Leading 1-0 thanks to Pedri, Barca was within striking distance of Atletico, but ultimately conceded second-half goals from Rodrigo de Paul and Alexander Sorloth to lose 2-1 in a humbling defeat that Raphinha took the blame for.
After the match, Flick stated, "It's hard to believe how we played."
"This is the style I want for my team. I'm proud. It demonstrates that Atletico is a seasoned team, and they are just waiting for this opportunity and for them, it's enough.
"I believe our approach, the way we want to play, was fantastic. It's really disappointing that we don't have anything to show for it from the game, that's the main disappointment.
"I told the team I'm proud of how we play. Perhaps we need to be more tactically astute. We were punished for a couple of mistakes, and we need to learn from these issues, but this, for me, is the way.
"The quality of our play, how we played... Everyone in this room can see this. This is also the style Barca wants to play, dominate, but at the end, it's football, and the team that scores more goals wins," Flick continued to explain.
According to SPORT, Laporta ended the match against Atletico in a state of anger, but primarily due to the final result rather than the team's performance.
Regardless of the five defeats Barcelona has faced in the 2024/2025 season, which matches the total losses Xavi Hernandez's fired predecessor suffered throughout the 2023/2024 campaign, faith in Flick remains "complete."
"The club projects an air of tranquility, convinced that the situation will improve in January, when titles are on the line," the paper adds, hinting at the Spanish Super Cup.
With a potential win against Athletic Club in the semifinals and a subsequent victory against Real Madrid or Mallorca in the final, Flick and his team can restore faith in the Barca project among Culers and the press.
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Despite Barcelona's loss to Atletico Madrid, President Joan Laporta maintains his confidence in head coach Hansi Flick, as reported by SPORT. This comes even as Real Madrid's former midfielder Xavi Hernandez, who was Flick's predecessor, faced the same number of losses in a season earlier.
In the midst of this, there's speculation that Flick and his team can regain supporter and press faith with a victory against Athletic Club in the semifinals, followed by a triumph against Real Madrid or Mallorca in the Spanish Super Cup final.
