Barcelona manager Hansi Flick admitted that Paris St. Germain was worth the winner in his 2-1 Champions League win in the Montjuic Olympic Stadium on Wednesday and said his team should improve in important areas.
During the press conference after the game, Flick acknowledged that his side, who took the lead in the 19th minute through Ferran Torres, was in second place for a large part of the game.
PSG, despite missing several important players, equated through 19-year-old Senny Mayulu in the first half before replacement Goncalo Ramos scored a winner of 90th minutes.
«Today I don’t think we can say that we are at the same level,» Flick admitted. «I believe in my team, but today we have not shown our best side. After 35 minutes, PSG took control of the game. I don’t think we played completely. But that is also important in the Champions League. They deserved the victory.»
Flick pointed out fatigue as a factor in Barcelona’s struggles in the second half, where PSG dominated the property and created the dangerous opportunities.
«I think you could see in the second half that some players were very tired,» he explained. «If you are a bit tired, show it on the field. But everyone gave everything on the field. With the score on 1-1 you have to have a better structure in defense. We have to learn and improve.»
The German manager also emphasized the importance of maintaining a defensive organization and making better use, the ability of PSG prices to exploit spaces and impose their play.
«We missed structure in the second half,» said Flick. «But when I see a player like Eric (Garcia), who had a fantastic game, I think it’s great. We have to train, improve and it helps us a lot for the future.»
«You have to hold on for 90 minutes, the whole team has to defend, attack, play at a high level with the ball, take advantage of spaces, participate in possession. At PSG you saw that everyone knows how to benefit from spaces, the ball wants – these are things to learn and improve.»
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Reflecting on the last phases of the game, Flick expressed frustration about the inability of his team to see the draw, while PSG used a defensive decay to take the victory.
«Of course we are disappointed,» he admitted. «If you defend a 1-1 draw, you have to play more intelligent at the end of the game, and that didn’t happen. They scored against us on a transition. We have to be more organized and cover all spaces. We are very disappointed, which is normal because we wanted to perform better today.»
Barcelona will try to regroup prior to the next Champions League match, a home game against Olympiacos in three weeks, when PSG travels to be confronted with Bayer Leverkusen.
Published on October 2, 2025
