Flick wants Barca to ‘eliminate the mistakes’ after recent stumbles

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has warned his side to stop making mistakes ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash with French side Brest.

The Spanish league leaders are looking to bounce back from defeats at Real Sociedad and draws against Celta Vigo in their last two matches.

Barcelona let a two-goal lead slip in the closing stages against Celta on Saturday and Flick said his young side, who have beaten Bayern Munich in Europe and rivals Real Madrid in La Liga, needed to take another step forward.

“It’s about eliminating the mistakes, that’s important,” Flick said at a press conference on Monday.

“We have many things to do better with the ball, and that is the focus.”

The German coach said Barcelona should have defended better after going down to 10 men against Celta Vigo when Marc Casado was sent off to protect their two-goal advantage.

“We have a young team, I think it’s the youngest team in La Liga. It’s not always a highway where you drive at high speed, you have to be careful in some situations,” continued the coach.

“We have to learn that – when we lead 2-0, with the red card we have to defend much better than we did.”

Barcelona are sixth in the Champions League table with three wins and one loss from four matches, but Tuesday’s visitors Brest are a point ahead of them in fourth, despite being 12th in Ligue 1.

Brest scored an eye-catching 4-0 win in Salzburg among other positive results and the visit of Barcelona gives them the chance to take a big scalp.

“They are doing really well, they deserve their 10 points and it was good how they played against Salzburg,” said Flick.

“They are in a flow in the Champions League, they are struggling a bit in the league. They are a good team.”

Barcelona will be without teenage winger Lamine Yamal, who is still recovering from an ankle injury, while Flick said left-back Alejandro Balde is also not fit enough to start.

Barcelona defender Inigo Martinez also showed his frustration at the team letting their lead at Celta slip.

“It was hard to digest, it was a game we had under control to a certain extent – we let crucial points get away from us,” Martinez told reporters.

“Physically, we have a very difficult opponent in front of us, they do very well in the Champions League.

“If we come out relaxed tomorrow, it could cost us dearly.”

The 33-year-old centre-back said that if Barcelona were at their best, even well-prepared opponents would struggle to beat them.

“Opponents naturally study Barca’s games and analyze them like we do with our opponents,” he continued.

“It’s about how we press and our intensity. If our press is good, it’s very difficult to beat us.”