FC Barcelona suffered a second consecutive defeat, losing 2-1 to Girona away at the Estadi Montilivi in La Liga. Days after a 4-0 humbling by Atlético Madrid the Blaugrana were expected to react but failed to do so. Missed chances, defensive errors and questionable refereeing all contributed as Barça finished the matchday in second place, two points behind Real Madrid.
After the match manager Hansi Flick criticised both his team's performance and the refereeing. He said he did not want to talk about the second goal because “everyone saw what happened”, referring to a clear foul on Jules Koundé in the build-up to Fran Beltrán’s late winner that the match official ignored. When pressed he posed a rhetorical question to underline that it was a foul.
Flick nevertheless refused to blame the referee for the defeat alone and admitted his players were poor on the night, especially in the second half: “We played really badly in the second half. We were poor defensively.” He also made a pointed remark about officials: “They [the referees] are at the same level as us, so maybe it’s not a good level.”
On the performance he said the team are not in a good mood and are in a bad moment, and that it will be a long road to get back to fighting and regain first place. He cited fatigue — “the team is tired, not fresh” — and called for more hunger to win, more control and fewer mistakes. He refused to single out anyone, noting Barcelona had many opportunities in the first half while Girona had them in the second, and that transitions, defensive work and positioning, especially in midfield, were poor.
