La Liga 2024-25: Barca’s Flick lets substandard second-half slide in derby win over Espanyol

Barcelona was 3-0 up by halftime but Flick’s team failed to build on their momentum from the first half as Espanyol fired warning shots with two goals disallowed by VAR for offside before denying the home side a clean sheet.

Barcelona’s head coach Hansi Flick gives instructions from the sideline during a La Liga match between Barcelona and Espanyol. | Photo Credit: AP

Barcelona beat Espanyol 3-1 on Sunday despite a below-par performance in the second half but Barca coach Hansi Flick said he would not be hard on his players since they had done enough to build a big lead in the league.

Barcelona was 3-0 up by halftime but Flick’s team failed to build on their momentum from the first half as Espanyol fired warning shots with two goals disallowed by VAR for offside before denying the home side a clean sheet.

But with a nine-point lead in La Liga, Flick said that all he expected was not to see a repeat of the performance from the second half on its midweek Champions League trip to Red Star Belgrade.

“The second half today, I told the team that I would accept it because they have done a great job so far. But on Wednesday we need a better performance,” Flick said.

“The derby is always complicated. In the first half the team showed a great level and in the second half we didn’t play as we usually do. We lost a lot of balls and that’s one of the reasons why Espanyol were able to pull one back.

“We have to improve on that... But the important thing is the victory and I would highlight the concentration of all the players.”

Barcelona’s high defensive line to play the offside trap has been one of the best in Europe this season and although Espanyol eventually found their way through to score, Flick said there was always an element of risk in their style of play.

“This is part of the game. This is how we play,” Flick said.

Espanyol, which is 17th and a point above the relegation zone, has not beaten Barcelona in 27 La Liga games but it was much better in the second half and coach Manolo Gonzalez said his halftime team talk had done the trick.

“We are Espanyol. We can’t leave here looking ridiculous because that would have made me explode inside. Hearing chants about being relegated to the second division makes me explode, it burns me up inside, it annoys me,” he said.

“It’s a matter of pride. If you have to lose, you lose, but there are ways to lose games. I’m not satisfied. We competed at a good level for 45 minutes. Everyone expected us to lose by eight (goals). You have to realise that if we competed well for 90 minutes we might lose, but the story would have been different.”