´Perfect´ Barca still have room for improvement, says Flick

Despite Barcelona maintaining their perfect start to the LaLiga season with a 1-0 win over Getafe on Wednesday, head coach Hansi Flick insisted they can still improve.

Robert Lewandowski’s 19th-minute strike was enough to secure the victory for the Blaugrana, but the hosts should have won by a more comfortable scoreline.

At the end of the contest, Barca accumulated an expected goals (xG) total of 1.92 from their 15 shots, but only four of those were on target.

But Flick, who became the third Barca coach to win his first seven LaLiga games after Gerardo Martino in 2013 and Ernesto Valverde in 2017, insisted his side were still very much a work in progress.

“To get seven wins is perfect, but we have to do some things better,” Flick said.

“Today we had a very good mentality. For me it’s a good starting point to improve.

“I’ve been told that it’s always like that against Getafe, they are very good in defence, but I’m very proud of my players and how they fought for 95 minutes.”

The result saw Barca extend their lead to rivals Real Madrid at the summit of the standings to four points ahead of facing Osasuna this weekend.

FULL TIME!!!!!!!#BarçaGetafe pic.twitter.com/d5TdiNbHPh

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 25, 2024

It was also a straightforward game for the hosts’ stand-in goalkeeper Inaki Pena, who kept a clean sheet and was forced to make just one save during the contest.

Pena replaced Marc-Andre ter Stegen between the sticks after the German international came off injured during Barca’s 5-1 win over Villarreal last week.

The extent of Ter Stegen’s injury was confirmed shortly after, with the 32-year-old undergoing knee surgery on Monday and he is now expected to miss the rest of the season.

Reports suggest that Barca are considering welcoming Wojciech Szczesny as an emergency back-up, despite the Pole calling time on his career earlier this year.

However, Flick refused to discuss those rumours linking Szczesny to a shock move to the Camp Nou.

“I only speak of the players we have in the team. Inaki Pena is our number one goalkeeper and I’m happy. This is what it’s worth,” Flick said.

“We have Inaki Pena who is 25-years-old but the rest of the goalkeepers are very young, so if something happens we have to have experience.”