Barcelona coach “Hanz Flick” confirmed that his Polish striker “Robert Lewandowski” has returned in a different and more positive way after recovering from the injury, and praised his distinguished level and scoring three goals in the victory over Celta Vigo.
He also expressed his sadness at the absence of Dutchman “Frenkie de Jong” in the upcoming match due to the expulsion, stressing the importance of dealing with this situation wisely.
It is worth mentioning that these statements came after Barcelona’s 4-2 victory over Celta Vigo last Sunday, as part of the twelfth round of the Spanish League.
With this victory, Barcelona raised its score to 28 points, 3 points behind leaders Real Madrid, while Celta Vigo’s score remained at 13 points in thirteenth place.
In an interview with the “Movistar” channel after the match, “Flick” presented a technical analysis of the match and pointed out the positives and challenges faced by the Catalan team.
“Flick” said: “We played a good game with the ball, and in the second half we defended better.”
Regarding the turning point, the German coach added: “This is the world of football; what you have done previously does not count. What we presented in the second half gives us confidence for the upcoming matches. We are only focusing on ourselves. Today we pressed well, and I am happy for the team.”
Regarding the difference with Real Madrid, “Flick” explained: “As I said before, we are focusing on ourselves. We have returned to press as we should, and this makes me very happy. It is good to win before the break.”
Speaking about the role and brilliance of “Lewandowski,” “Flick” expressed his great admiration for his Polish goalscorer, saying: “It is still too early to judge, but after the injury I saw Lewandowski differently, positively, and he returned ahead of schedule. Scoring three goals is great for his confidence. Last season was very important to us.”
Regarding the expulsion of “De Jong” and his absence in the upcoming match, “Flick” said: “He played a wonderful match, and he was controlling the rhythm of the game. He is a very important player for us, and he is performing amazingly. It is unfortunate that he will miss the upcoming match, and we will have to deal with this situation. We will see if Pedri will be able to return.”
Regarding the international break, “Flick” added: “It is always better to go into the break after achieving victory. I hope that all the players return healthy from their international commitments.”
“Flick” concluded his statements about pressure and style of play by saying: “It is important to say some things, but I will not do that now. There is a lot of noise around us. We hope that the injured will return soon. We have improved and we are on the right track. We will analyze today’s match, because we did not do everything perfectly.”
Detailed description of the match:
Barcelona began with early pressure on the host team, and in the third minute, “Marcus Rashford” showed his high skills when he dribbled past “Mingueza” on the left side, forcing him to make a mistake near the penalty area.
In the fourth minute, “Lewandowski” tried to shoot directly after the ball rebounded from the wall, but his attempt was unsuccessful.
Celta responded quickly in the fifth minute when “Duran” broke away and dribbled past goalkeeper “Szczęsny”, but “Balde” saved the situation from the goal line before the referee raised the flag, announcing an offside.
Barcelona tried to control the course of the game, and in the seventh minute, “Manu Fernández” managed to close the space in front of “Olmo” after a skillful pass from “De Jong”.
In the eighth minute, the match referee stopped play to review a possible handball on “Marcos Alonso”, and after referring to video technology, he awarded a penalty to Barcelona in the ninth minute, which “Lewandowski” successfully converted in the tenth minute, giving his team an early lead in his return to the starting lineup.
Celta did not give up, and in the 11th minute, “Radu” saved a dangerous breakaway from “Rashford”, before Barcelona was punished in the 12th minute when their defense failed to deal with the counterattacks, and “Carreira” scored the equalizing goal, taking advantage of the spaces in the back.
“Goutglas” almost added the second goal in the 13th minute with a powerful shot from outside the area, but the ball went over the crossbar, then “Borja Iglesias” missed another opportunity in the 15th minute after being in an offside position.
In the 16th minute, “Iglesias” tried again from midfield with a bold shot, but “Szczęsny” returned quickly and saved a sure goal.
After that, the two teams exchanged control of the ball without real opportunities, until the 24th minute, which witnessed the most dangerous moments of the half, when “Rashford” broke away and shot the ball into the post, then “Lewandowski” followed the ball twice, but goalkeeper “Radu” excelled greatly and kept his team in the match.
Barcelona continued their pressure, and in the 32nd minute, “Fermin” missed a valuable opportunity with a shot that went over the crossbar.
Then came the 37th minute to bring joy back to the Blaugrana fans, when “Rashford” passed a perfect ball to “Lewandowski,” who put it into the net with a wonderful technical touch, scoring his second goal.
But “Borja Iglesias” brought the home side back into the match by scoring the equalizing goal in the 43rd minute, with a powerful shot that settled in “Szczęsny’s” net.
Before the end of the first half, in the 45+4 minute, “Lamine Yamal” succeeded in scoring the third goal after an excellent follow-up to a shot that rebounded from goalkeeper “Radu”, taking advantage of a clearance error from “Morbya”, ending the first half with Barcelona leading 3-1.
Attempts and cohesion:
With the start of the second half, Celta tried to get back into the match with sporadic shots from “Duran” and “Goutglas”, but the Catalan defense remained cohesive.
In the 53rd minute, “Eric Garcia” sparked controversy after the referee awarded him a foul against “Duran” despite his strong protest.
Attempts continued without real danger until the 67th minute, when “Lewandowski” almost scored his third goal, but the ball hit the defense and went out for a corner kick.
In the 73rd minute, the most beautiful moment of the match came, when “Rashford” executed a corner kick skillfully, so “Lewandowski” jumped and converted it with a wonderful header into the net, scoring a wonderful hat-trick on a perfect evening for the Polish star.
The last minutes witnessed objections from “Aspas” in the 76th minute to a tackle on his teammate “Javi Rodríguez”, but the referee did not award anything.
Barcelona players completely controlled the match in the last quarter of an hour, however, the result did not change until the final whistle, and Barcelona came out with a well-deserved victory over Celta Vigo with a score of 4-2.
The only negative point for Barcelona was the Dutchman “Frenkie de Jong” receiving the second yellow card and being sent off after his violent tackle on “Iago Aspas”, which will lead to his absence from the next round match against Athletic Bilbao.
