BELGRADE, Serbia (Reuters) – Barcelona manager Hansi Flick said he was pleased with his players’ focus and determination to earn a commanding 5-2 win at Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League on Wednesday.
After a win that lifted Barca to sixth place in the 36-team Champions League table with nine points, having scored a competition-leading 15 goals in four games, Flick said he liked how his side got things done with the seriousness required.
“The most important thing is the three points, it’s not easy to win away from home in this competition, the Champions League is complicated,” Flick, who led Bayern Munich to the 2020 Champions League title, told Movistar Plus.
“I’m very happy, I really value what we’re doing. We’ve been very good on the ball and we’ve put a lot of pressure on.
“Red Star played very well, they knew how to play with the ball and it’s difficult to defend against them. I really appreciate my players being focused for 90 minutes because it’s not easy.”
Striker Robert Lewandowski scored twice to put Barca on course for victory and he is level with team mate Raphinha and Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane and Sporting’s Viktor Gyokeres as the competition’s top scorers on five goals.
After scoring his 19th goal in 16 games in all competitions with Barca this season, the 36-year-old Lewandowski said he was delighted with Flick’s aggressive approach.
“Since the beginning of the season we have had a goal: we have to play a very attacking football but without losing sight of how well our defensive line has been playing,” Lewandowski said.
“Everything that works so far is almost perfect. We have to look at what we can do better, sure, but I feel very good, the team is very happy.
“I think in this new Champions League format, winning away games is very important … In the first half we played a bit slow but in the second half we had a lot of chances.
“Sometimes when a team plays very defensively like Red Star today, we need a bit of patience. I’m always looking for a free space to be able to touch a ball and score. That’s why I’m very happy. As a team we played very well.”
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas in Madrid; Editing by Toby Davis)
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