Flick after defeat to Real Sociedad: No excuses for Barcelona… We weren’t at our best

Hans Flick, Barcelona’s coach, made no excuses following his team’s poor performance in their 1-0 loss to Real Sociedad at the Anoeta Stadium in La Liga on Sunday, a defeat that ended Barcelona’s seven-match winning streak across all competitions.

Flick praised his opponent’s performance, saying that Barcelona must move forward. The German coach’s team still leads the league with 33 points, six points ahead of second-place Real Madrid, who have a game in hand.

Flick said in a press conference on Sunday: “It wasn’t our day. I think we need to accept this result because they were decisive. Clearly, there are no excuses. We didn’t create enough chances… We started the match well when we had possession, and I was happy with that, but then we started to struggle, and they scored. We also made some wrong decisions, and that’s something we have to live with.”

Barcelona had scored in every game they played until Sunday; however, they finished the match in San Sebastián without a single shot on target.

Real Sociedad created many chances and could have won by a larger margin after a series of defensive mistakes from an unorganized Barcelona defense, which Flick believes they will need to study carefully.

He added: “The responsibility for the defeat lies with us. We could and should have played better… We didn’t dominate possession the way we wanted, and we suffered. But the games we played before that were fantastic, and I appreciate what the team has done so far this season… We fought until the last minute, we were united, and I told the team that. But on Sunday, we weren’t strong enough to deserve a better result.”