{"id":274820,"date":"2025-10-03T15:00:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T15:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/274820\/"},"modified":"2025-10-03T15:00:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T15:00:09","slug":"flicks-greatest-frustration-with-the-barcelona-squad-managing-the-final-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/274820\/","title":{"rendered":"Flick\u2019s greatest frustration with the Barcelona squad – Managing the final minutes"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday night, FC Barcelona fell to their first defeat of the 2025\/26 season, losing 1-2 to Paris Saint-Germain at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.<\/p>\n

A stoppage-time goal from Goncalo Ramos secured a late victory for PSG against Hansi Flick\u2019s men, who were not up to their usual level during the second period<\/a> at Montjuic.<\/p>\n

Flick annoyed by team\u2019s failure to close matches<\/p>\n

Now, according to SPORT<\/a>, the outcome left Barcelona manager Flick frustrated with his team over their inability to close out matches in the final stages.<\/p>\n

The German coach continues to insist on the need to control the closing stages of matches, but the team has yet to fully apply it, as was visible against PSG.<\/p>\n

This was not only about the latest setback, but also a recurring problem that had hurt Barcelona before, such as last year\u2019s Champions League semi-final against Inter Milan. <\/p>\n

Flick has long been hammering home the importance of managing the ends of matches: keeping composure, staying organised, and having the calmness to \u201ckill off\u201d the final minutes.<\/p>\n

Against Newcastle on matchday one, he praised the team\u2019s ability to protect a 1-2 lead, maintain possession and prevent a late comeback. Against PSG, however, the same weakness reappeared, much to his frustration.<\/p>\n

\"HansiFlick frustrated with his team\u2019s late lapses. (Photo by Alex Caparros\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Barcelona are known for their frenetic pressing, verticality and aggressive attacking style. Yet when faced with a fresher, more intense opponent in the closing stages, the side failed to adjust.<\/p>\n

In Gon\u00e7alo Ramos\u2019 goal, Alejandro Balde was caught out of position high up the pitch, neglecting his defensive duties \u2013 a detail that irked Flick.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to hold out for the full ninety minutes, we have to be better in defence, in possession of the ball, and take advantage of the spaces,\u201d<\/strong> Flick specified after the game, visibly frustrated.<\/p>\n

It is worth remembering that last season, Barcelona already suffered painful late setbacks. <\/p>\n

Apart from the Inter Milan game, Alexander Sorloth\u2019s goal in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg against Atletico de Madrid stands out, as well as his late winner in La Liga just two months before that.<\/p>\n

As such, Flick will keep insisting on fixing such issues ahead of the most decisive fixtures of the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Wednesday night, FC Barcelona fell to their first defeat of the 2025\/26 season, losing 1-2 to Paris…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":274821,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[1386,4444,5727,5729,22561,221,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-274820","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-barcelona","9":"tag-barcelona-news","10":"tag-fc-barcelona","11":"tag-hansi-flick","12":"tag-psg","13":"tag-soccer","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115310836116734774","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}