Barcelona boss Hansi Flick said his team was in high spirits after its thumping win at Real Madrid and had turned its attention to derby rival Espanyol, but the German said all sport should be suspended due to the deadly floods in Valencia.
Barcelona thrashed Real Madrid 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu last weekend to establish a six-point lead in La Liga but its city rival Espanyol is 20 points behind and languishing in 17th place, a point above the relegation zone.
Barcelona holds an impeccable record in the fixture, which has often been one-sided and has not lost against Espanyol in its last 26 league encounters, while Flick is well aware of the stakes ahead of his first derby.
“We always prepare well for the next game. After the celebrations, we focus on the next game. We work on what we want tomorrow. It’s a very long game in the league and we focus on the next game.”
With second-placed Real Madrid’s game at Valencia postponed due to the floods, Barcelona can provisionally extend its lead to nine points.
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But, like many others in the sport, Flick voiced his concerns about playing during a time of tragedy after the deadliest flash floods in Spain’s modern history killed at least 211 people while dozens are still unaccounted for.
“If it were me, I might do it (suspend sport) because it is an incredible tragedy for Valencia and Spain as a whole. We have spoken with Ferran (Torres), who is from the area, and it is not easy to decide whether the game should be played or not. For me, it is a tragedy. It was something similar in Germany three years ago, it is horrible. We will do everything we can to help. The rest is for La Liga to decide,” the German coach said.
‘It doesn’t make any sense,’ says Diego Simeone
Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone said on Saturday it made no sense to play this weekend after catastrophic floods swept the eastern region of Spain.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Simeone told reporters ahead of his side’s home game against Las Palmas on Sunday.
“What is happening is very hard; it is very moving to see the people who went out on the streets to help, who with a shovel and their tools are trying to collaborate and that speaks very well of the country, of the people, and we want to help wherever we can. There are people having a very hard time, it’s very sad and they tell us to continue and here we are, continuing,” he said.
Atletico, fifth in the LaLiga standings with 20 points from 11 matches, hosts 18th-placed Las Palmas and Simeone expects a tough test.
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