BARCELONA : Barcelona’s 4-3 comeback win over Celta Vigo showed the team will never give up, coach Hansi Flick said after Saturday’s victory which was only dampened by Robert Lewandowski’s injury.
Raphinha’s 98th-minute penalty gave Barcelona a crucial victory in the LaLiga title race where they now have a seven-point lead over Real Madrid, who play fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
Flick said it was one of those comebacks that nobody forgets easily, adding it was not easy to win after Borja Iglesias netted a hat-trick to give Celta a 3-1 lead.
“When we win, we like these kinds of games. We’ve played against a very good team, they’ve had good results in the last 10 games, as I said yesterday in the press conference. Their coach is doing a fantastic job,” Flick said.
“I think the goals we conceded have nothing to do with our pressing. We usually press very well, but today we made mistakes. We made it very easy for the opponent.
“But the team did everything, we didn’t give up. That’s the mentality we have right now. It’s great.
“I don’t want to talk about the mistakes my players made. I think that everyone can see that the team didn’t give up, they did their best for 90 minutes and we got the three points.”
With a double in the second half, Raphinha has now scored 30 goals for Barcelona in all competitions and Flick could not contain his delight as he hugged the Brazilian after the full-time whistle.
“I hugged Raphinha because things weren’t going his way in the first half. I told him to think positively and in the second, it showed,” Flick said.
“At halftime I told Raphinha, ‘Come on, think positively. We need you on the pitch as a leader.’ Then he went in and put that performance.”
But Barcelona will be sweating over Lewandowski’s fitness after the Polish striker went down clutching his leg and was taken off late in the game.
A hamstring injury may rule the 36-year-old – who has 40 goals this season – out of their Copa del Rey final next weekend against Real Madrid while Barcelona also face Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-finals later this month.
“Lewandowski will have an MRI tomorrow. We have to wait for the results, we’ll know more about his injury,” Flick said.
