Barcelona boss Hansi Flick spoke about Raphinha and Xavi Espart after watching his team beat Athletic Club 2-0 on Thursday night.
Raphinha opened the scoring for the hosts and now has three goals in his first two games for Barcelona this season.
Flick says he doesn’t know if Raphinha will stay as Barca’s No. 9 for the rest of the campaign but is happy with the way his team are attacking.
“I don’t know if Raphinha will be our No. 9,” he told DAZN.
“For me, it’s important that the plan works out, whether
Raphinha is the number nine or not. Because of his dynamism, his runs off the ball, and his intensity, he’s the right one.
“We have an idea of how to attack and I think we played a great game today, with many opportunities, scoring only two goals, but we created many scoring chances. You don’t always score many goals. It’s very important not to concede. In some situations, at 1-0, we lacked a bit of composure.”
Flick also had more praise for Xavi Espart after another very impressive performance from the youngster on the left for Barcelona.
“Espart has great technique, he handles situations very well, both in attack and defense. I was surprised by his performance today on the left wing,” he added. “He’s top-notch. He has room for improvement, like everyone, but he’s a fantastic player.”
Espart wore his new No. 12 shirt on Thursday after being promoted to the first-team and looks in the mood to make the left-back spot his own right now.
