Manager wants his side to finish “better and with more conviction”
Hansi Flick wants Barcelona to improve at finding the net with their best chances, after more struggles in front of goal nearly led to an upset against second-division side Albacete in the Copa del Rey.
La Blaugrana have been profligate in recent games, and after going 2-0 up against Albacete at the Carlos Belmonte Stadium and failing to add to their tally, a late goal from the visitors forced Barcelona to cling on at the end.
“It was a tough match at the end, really hard,” Flick said. “We could have made it much easier because we had control in the first half and for large parts of the second.
“We create a lot of chances. We have to finish much better, with more conviction. At the end it was tight, but we deserved this.
“We have played Wednesday, Saturday and now Tuesday. I am proud of the fight from the team. You have to win cup games and we did. We are in the semifinal.”
Barcelona president Joan Laporta also gave credit to the performance of Albacete, who had knocked out Real Madrid in the last round, saying that they “honoured the competition” with their performance against both La Liga sides.
“They made things difficult for us,” Laporta said. “But we are deserved winners and we are a semi-final team. Albacete were great opponents and I hope things go very well for them in the league.
Barcelona’s goals came on both sides of the break from Lamine Yamal and Ronaldo Araujo. The latter recently returned from a break he had been given by the club to take care of his mental health.
Laporta said: “Lamine Yamal is a genius, he opened the scoring, but I’m especially happy for Ronald Araujo. He scored, he started the match, and although he was exhausted at the end, we are very satisfied with our captain’s return. He scored a goal that gave us a bit more calm.”
