FC Barcelona coach Hansi Flick revealed that he has rewarded his players with three days off following the important 4-1 La Liga victory against Sevilla on Sunday.
At the same time, however, the strict German warned his charges not to do “anything stupid”.
The Catalans took advantage of both Madrid teams dropping points by drawing the derby and reduced the deficit between itself and the leader to just two points through the victory.
“I’m very happy with our performance. We played well and fought for the three points. I think we played well in the first half and Sevilla did too, of course,” Flick first said post-match.
“In the second half we changed small things. We played with more pace, faster and Fermin’s goal to make it 2-1 was very important for us. I’m very proud of the team. After [Fermin] seeing the red card we defended very well in a 4-4-1,” he added.
Flick revealed that Fermin “was sad about about the sending off” because “he had scored an important goal”.
“I’m happy with the intensity they have,” he said in reference to Andalusians Fermin and Gavi.
“Today that has happened and we have to accept it. These are things that happen, it’s a good lesson to play 4-4-1 and know how to defend like that,” he insisted.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said that Barca is the best team in the league, but Flick humbly said that there are “three, four or five” strong outfits “and we are among them”.
“We have our style and we are focused on it. Today I’m happy with the three points we won in Seville, but in the end it’s a long road.”
“We are in a good situation. We don’t care about others. We have to do our job and today we have done it. We are focused on ours and not on other teams,” Flick also stated.
With Barca not in action until Monday February 17 when Rayo Vallecano come to Montjuic, Flick revealed that: “I have given the team three days off, so that they can rest, which I think they deserve”.
“The important thing is that they don’t do stupid things and focus on their recovery,” he concluded, with a laugh.