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Barcelona coach Hansi Flick expressed his displeasure with the team’s performance following their 2-1 home defeat to Real Madrid.
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The defending champions suffered their first defeat of the 2026-27 La Liga campaign, missing the opportunity to equal Real Madrid’s record of winning their opening 10 matches of the season.
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The German manager refused to make excuses for the defeat despite highlighting the team’s demanding travel schedule.
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Barcelona midfielder Pedri admitted that the team failed to perform at its usual level, particularly in the first half, while lamenting their poor ball retention.
October 26, (THEWILL) – Barcelona coach, Hansi Flick, has expressed his displeasure at the team’s performance in the 2-1 defeat at home to Real Madrid in La Liga on Sunday.
The defending champions succumbed to their first defeat of the 2026-27 La Liga campaign and also missed out on the opportunity to equal Real Madrid’s record of winning the first 10 matches of the season.
Kylian Mbappe gave Real Madrid the lead in the first half before Raphinha equalised for Barcelona in the second half.
The French captain scored the winner in the 87th minute to hand Real Madrid the maximum points.
Flick was unhappy with the team’s performance, claiming that the players lacked freshness in the encounter.
He said: “I’m not satisfied [with the performance]. Today, you saw we are not 100% fresh.
“Normally, we are fresh, and we can create a little bit more.
“The second half was good. Madrid had two chances to score a second, but we came back and controlled the game, and we made it 1-1. I had the feeling that now it is on our side.
“But, in the end, we made the same mistake, played into pressure, and then they directly made the counter and scored the goal. We have to accept it… defeat is also a part of the game.”
The former Bayern Munich manager urged the team to fight back in their next three matches before the international break.
Flick added: “I don’t think this defeat will create any doubts within the team. Everyone knows the situation. We didn’t play our best today, but in big games, details decide the outcome. That’s how the scales tip, and today luck wasn’t on our side.
“We have to improve. After these defeats, there are no excuses. But I know what we need to improve on. I’m not worried because this is part of the game and the sport. Two defeats are too many for me and all Barça fans. Especially in the Clásico. We don’t want to lose.”
Flick refused to accept any excuses for the defeat, urging the players to improve in their subsequent matches.
He concluded: “You only see the matches, but being on a plane for three hours in Seville, returning to the hotel… then going to Paris… it’s a lot. But I don’t want to talk about this when we lose; it’s better when we win. And I won’t accept excuses. I’m telling the truth: today we weren’t fresh, and we need to change that.”
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Similarly, Barcelona midfielder Pedri rued the team’s mistakes in the defeat after 11 consecutive victories in all competitions.
He said: “In general, we didn’t play well. We were not ourselves in the first half. There are a lot of things we could have done better.
“We got back on level terms in the second half, but we did not defend the second goal well — from a transition, as well, which we knew they could do.
“But, above all, in the first half we were really slow, we lost the ball stupidly a lot and you pay for those mistakes.”
Barcelona will be hoping for an instant response when they face Alaves on Saturday.
