(Reuters) – Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said he is not worried about his side’s performance despite the 2-1 defeat to Monaco in their Champions League opener on Thursday.
Monaco made the most of their man advantage after Barcelona defender Eric Garcia was sent off only 11 minutes in, before goals from Maghnes Akliouche and George Ilenikhena secured the triumph over the Catalans.
Flick, who has led Barcelona to a five-match winning run in the Spanish LaLiga, remained positive after his first defeat in charge and urged his players to look forward to the games to come.
“With (Garcia’s) red card the game changed totally but I can see the positives. We tried to defend as a team and attack as a team. We had chances but they deserved to win,” Flick told reporters.
“I have told the team to lift their heads up because they are disappointed, but we have to focus on Sunday (LaLiga match at Villarreal), which is our next game. It’s the time to recover, hopefully players will be back with a lot of energy.
“We have players that gave more than 100 percent, every player tried to give their best in this situation. I’m really proud of this team but we have to accept how we lost today.”
Barcelona relived bitter memories of last season when they crashed out of the Champions League quarter-finals losing 4-1 to Paris St Germain after defender Ronald Araujo was shown a red card.
Flick denied that the Catalans struggle in Europe’s top club competition and said he is optimistic about their chances in the tournament they last won in 2015.
“Today you see this situation with a red card after 11 minutes, it changed our match plan, we have to accept it, this happens,” the former Bayern Munich manager said.
“But we are strong enough to play a good Champions League, we have seven matches ahead and I think we will win many matches.”
Barcelona next host Young Boys in their second league-phase fixture.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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