Hansi Flick will still coach Barcelona in El Clasico on Sunday evening after the announcement of his father’s death hours before kick-off. The Catalan club shared a statement on Sunday to confirm that their head coach’s father has died and showed their support for the German.
Their message reads: “FC Barcelona and the entire blaugrana family wish to send all our love to Hansi Flick after the passing of his father. We share in your sorrow, and our thoughts are with you and your family during this difficult time.” Flick is nonetheless still scheduled to take his place in the dugout for the showdown with Real Madrid, where both clubs are due to honour his father by wearing black armbands, and a minute’s silence will also happen before kick-off.
Barca’s fierce rivals demonstrated tremendous dignity by offering their own condolences to Flick. They said in a statement: “Real Madrid, its president and its directors deeply regret the death of the father of Hansi Flick. Real Madrid wants to express its condolences and affection to their families and all their loved ones. Rest in peace.”
Avoiding defeat for the hosts will win them the La Liga title with two matches to spare. That feat would make it consecutive triumphs in his first two seasons at the club for Flick.
The coach spoke highly of the feeling within their squad coming into this match. Flick said: “The atmosphere, the connection between the players is something really special.
“We have players with a lot of quality, world-class players. The connection between everyone is amazing — [especially between] the academy players because they have known each other for many years.
“Winning a second title with this young team would be unbelievable. The players have made a fantastic job and now we want to win the title, the second in a row, which is amazing — and not normal here in Spain.”
He added: “It will not be easy to pick 11 players. We have nearly everyone back. Everyone gives an amazing level.
“We want to play our game and not focus about other things. It’s clear what we have to do, and we want to show it. We are in this situation because we played a fantastic season as a team.”