Flick: We Made Too Many Mistakes

Paris – AFP – Barcelona’s German coach, Hans-Dieter Flick, acknowledged that his team “made far too many mistakes” in their painful 4-2 defeat to hosts Paris Saint-Germain in the third round of the unified Champions League group stage. He also indicated that midfielder Rodri would return to the starting lineup for Sunday’s “Clásico” against Real Madrid, after being rested against PSG and not starting the match.

Flick said, “As you know, Rodri played many minutes with the national team and also in our recent matches.” He added that the team, which suffered its first loss in 12 matches across all competitions this season, had discussed the decision beforehand: “I spoke with him before the match and informed him that we had made this decision, so Marc Bernal started. In my view, what we did was a good solution, and I hope he will be in top condition on Sunday.”

Rodri came on in the 60th minute. After the Catalan side had twice equalized—through Chavi Espart (55th) and Lamine Yamal (79th)—responding to Desiré Doué’s (38th) and Luca Hernández’s (72nd) goals for the hosts, Portuguese midfielder Vitinha restored PSG’s lead (81st), before Spanish forward Fabián Ruiz sealed the European champions’ victory, who have won the title in the past two seasons, with a fourth goal (86th).

Flick commented, “I think it was a great match for both teams, but we made far too many mistakes, especially in possession.” He added, “But I also saw many positive aspects. For me, it was an excellent test for us, and you also saw the mistakes we need to correct to improve.”

Barcelona will be without midfielder Dani Olmo for a month due to injury. Meanwhile, PSG suffered injuries to striker Ousmane Dembélé (thigh), winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, sidelining him for several months), and captain Marquinhos (right thigh muscle injury), who could not complete the match.

Commenting on the injuries, PSG’s Spanish coach Luis Enrique said, “The three players got injured, and that’s the worst thing that came out of the match.” He added, “Three injuries to three very important players. It’s the worst news we could have received, but this is part of football.”

Enrique concluded, “We have already faced our top-level opponents,” referring to this victory, which followed last week’s 4-2 win away against English side Manchester City.

With this result, PSG secured three wins from their first three matches in the unified group stage, as they aim for a third consecutive title.

In other notable results, English side Liverpool staged a thrilling 4-3 comeback against Spanish club Villarreal, marking their third consecutive win. Manchester City thrashed Greek visitors AEK Athens 5-1. Italian Napoli defeated Norwegian Bodø/Glimt 4-3, Italian Roma beat Slovak Slovan Bratislava 4-0, and German Stuttgart drew 1-1 with Spanish Atlético Madrid.