Flick: Barça must eliminate errors vs. Brest

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has played down concerns about his team’s form but said they must eliminate errors to get back on track after giving up a two-goal lead against Celta Vigo at the weekend.

Celta scored twice in the final 10 minutes after Marc Casadó‘s red card to earn a 2-2 draw at Balaídos and extend Barça’s winless run in LaLiga to two matches.

Barça will look to bounce back when they host unbeaten Brest in the Champions League at the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday.

“It’s about eliminating the mistakes, this is important,” Flick said in a news conference ahead of the game against the French side. “We have a lot of things we can do better with the ball and this is the focus.

“We have a young team, I think it’s the youngest in LaLiga. It’s not always a highway where you go with high speed. You have to take care about some situations and moments in 90 minutes. We have to learn about that.”

Barça began the campaign with 11 wins from their opening 12 league games before losing to Real Sociedad and drawing with Celta.

As a result, the LaLiga leader’s advantage over Real Madrid has been reduced from nine points to four, while Madrid also have a game in hand.

“I will look always positive,” Flick added. “This is a young team. Of course maybe in the season we have these situations. We have to learn about that and play better.

“The quality of the players is very high, so we have to show it on the pitch. We will do it. We will start [on Tuesday against Brest]. It will be a good start.

“It’s a process for this young team and it’s also a part of football. At the moment we are in front in the league, I know a little bit less, but at the end every other team wants to change our route, so it’s OK for us.”

Barça were without Lamine Yamal for their last two games due to an ankle injury and are yet to win without the forward this season. He was also a substitute when they were beaten at Osasuna in September.

Yamal will not return in time to face Brest, but Flick hopes to have the 17-year-old, who has scored six goals and laid on eight assists this season, back for Las Palmas‘ visit in LaLiga at the weekend.

“I think and I hope this will be the last match he will miss,” the German coach added. “Today it looks really good, but we have to wait.

“I think on Saturday he could be an option from the bench. We have to see. He has to train a bit more, we will see.”

Flick also confirmed left-back Alejandro Balde will miss Tuesday’s game with a knock, joining long-term absentees Marc-André ter Stegen, Andreas Christensen, Ronald Araújo, Marc Bernal and Ansu Fati on the sidelines.

Eric García and Ferran Torres are both back in full training, though, and could come into contention.

Barça have won three successive games in the Champions League since opening with a defeat to Monaco, but they face a Brest side who are unbeaten in Europe, accumulating 10 points from their four matches.

“They have good set pieces and also they know how to make transitions,” Flick said. “They are doing really good in the matches before. They deserve the 10 points.

“It was good how they play against [RB] Salzburg. They maybe struggle a bit in the league because they are 12th, but they are in the flow in the Champions League.

“They are a good team, we have to focus on this match and we will do that. For us, it’s very important to control the ball but also to finish our attacking.”