Barcelona continued their profitable momentum by securing a 5-2 victory over Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade.
It wasn’t a straightforward project for Barcelona gamers in any respect. Fairly used to the nice and cozy situations of Catalonia, the gamers needed to journey to snowy Belgrade, with the temperature dropping to 2 levels Celsius on the evening of the match.
Whereas most gamers stored themselves heat by collaborating in a riveting encounter that witnessed seven targets, six Barcelona gamers had been unable to enter the pitch and had been left as unused substitutes.
Flick’s message to unused substitutes
The six substitutes – goalkeepers Ander Astralaga and Wojciech Szczesny, together with Alejandro Balde, Hector Fort, Pablo Torre, and Ansu Fati – spent the match on the bench with out seeing a single minute of play.
Nevertheless, as reported by Mundo Deportivo, head coach Hansi Flick made positive these substitutes weren’t missed, particularly after a grotesque journey.
Flick stood out as soon as once more along with his humility (Photograph by Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Photos)
Simply earlier than Barça made their closing substitution, with Pau Victor approaching within the 78th minute, Flick walked over to every of the unused gamers, providing a handshake and some phrases of encouragement.
Flick’s gesture was a robust present of management – one thing he has been doing ever since he took the job in the summertime.
Pedri had already make clear this facet of Flick’s character in a latest interview, the place he said:
“What characterizes Flick essentially the most is his concern for individuals who don’t take part within the matches; he’ll discuss to them and management them.”
This high quality was evident as soon as once more in Belgrade, the place the coach’s effort to attach with the sidelined gamers might have helped ease their frustration.