Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said his under-pressure side must fight more to turn around a three-game winless streak in LaLiga.
Barça won 11 of their opening 12 league matches, but their lead over Real Madrid at the top of the table has been cut to a solitary point following defeat to Real Sociedad, a draw with Celta Vigo and Saturday’s 2-1 home loss against Las Palmas.
Flick’s team now face three tricky away games, starting with a trip to Mallorca on Tuesday before visiting Real Betis in LaLiga on Saturday and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League next week.
“The team was able to win this match [against Las Palmas], but we didn’t do that,” the German manager said in a news conference on Monday. “And now we are a little bit under pressure. Now the team has to come back. Focus is very important.
“It’s a very young team, the youngest team in LaLiga. We have to learn that we have to fight for the win. If it’s a tough match, to have a clean sheet, it means everyone in the team has to defend. We defend as one unit.
“I speak about not only to play football, but to fight, this is important. I was a player for this attitude. I don’t like to lose.
“I think we have to create more of this in the team, to fight more for this, to win the match. In some situations on the pitch we do it good, but we have some space to make it better.
“It’s a long road in LaLiga. This is how I see that, to fight, [because] at the end of the season we want to win the title, of course, we are Barcelona. So I want to see everyone is fighting, not only the team, but also on the staff.”
Flick also spoke about the need to be more clinical in front of goal, to press more diligently as a team and to deny the opposition the space which was afforded to Las Palmas at the weekend.
However, he also highlighted four players he feels have been playing well despite Barça’s alarming dip in results.
“The will is there, the hunger is there to defend our goal,” he said. “When I see Pau [Cubarsí] at 17, Iñigo [Martínez], how they play, every match defending really good. It is important for us.
“Also Pedri in midfield is unbelievable. Every match he runs a lot, invests a lot. The others are doing great, but I just want to speak about these three because they are really on the highest level. I would say also Raphinha.”
In more positive news, Barça’s injury list is shortening.
Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres returned as substitutes on Saturday, while Flick confirmed Dani Olmo, who didn’t feature against Las Palmas, is available to start against Mallorca.
Midfielder Marc Casadó, promoted from the B team in the summer, will also return for the trip to Mallorca after serving a one-game suspension for his red card in the 2-2 draw at Celta.
“He increases a lot from the beginning of the season to now,” Flick said of Casadó’s importance. “And also he made his first national match [with Spain].
“He really can read the match from the opponent. He knows exactly where to be. He’s good in reading the matches. With the ball he knows what to do, too, and is in the right positions. He’s doing really great.”
Barça’s game against Mallorca kicks off a big week in the title race.
They then travel to Betis on Saturday, while second-place Madrid also have back-to-back away matches, against Athletic Club on Wednesday and Girona this weekend.
