Flick shoulders the blame after Barca´s capitulation at Osasuna

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick took the blame following Saturday’s shock 4-2 defeat at the hands of Osasuna.

Flick made a call to rest some of his key players and duly paid the price as Osasuna claimed their first LaLiga win over Barca since 2020.

The former Germany and Bayern Munich boss had been aiming to become only the second Barca coach, after Gerardo Martino, to win his first eight LaLiga matches in charge.

Yet Barca were firmly second best at Estadio El Sadar, with Bryan Zaragoza’s double propelling Osasuna to a deserved victory, with the visitors only able to muster 0.68 expected goals (xG).

“You have to accept these defeats. We didn’t play very well. I think it’s my responsibility,” Flick told Movistar Plus.

“[With the changes] I tried to protect the players, because they have been playing a lot of minutes. But I didn’t expect us to play like this.

“We made a lot of mistakes and Osasuna did well. Although in the second goal I think there was a foul at the start of the action, I’m not entirely sure because I haven’t been able to see it yet, but that’s what I’ve heard.

“To score four goals against us is too much, but I’ve told the team that we have to keep going. It’s a busy schedule and we are on the right track.”

3 – This is the third time that @osasuna_en have scored at least four goals against #Barcelona in a match in any competition after doing so in June 1936 (4-2 in Spanish Cup) and in January 1984 (also 4-2 in @LaLigaEN). Poker. pic.twitter.com/sKrfwkt4uN

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) September 28, 2024

Flick was referring to a challenge by Osasuna midfielder Lucas Torro, who stood on Pau Victor’s foot, in the build-up to Zaragoza scoring their second goal in the 28th minute.

The goal was given as neither the referee nor the VAR saw an infringement.

“For me it is a clear foul,” a visibly frustrated Pedri told Movistar Plus.

Pedri also shrugged off the suggestion Flick’s changes were the cause of Barca’s issues.

He added: “It’s normal to make rotations, there are a lot of matches. It’s no excuse. We had to go out with 11 players and the score at half-time penalised us.

“The first half we were not good. We didn’t come out to the game well. In the second half we deserved a bit more, but goals came when we were at our best.

“We had to go for the game. We had to go for everything and on the counter-attack they hurt us.”