Barcelona manager Hansi Flick saw his team beat Newcastle 2-1 on Thursday in the Champions League thanks to an impressive brace from loanee Marcus Rashford.
The German coach was happy to take all three points home from St James’ Park but admitted his team had made too many mistakes in the game against the Premier League side.
“It’s very important to start with these three points here. The team was fantastic today,” he told Movistar.
“We had told the team that it was important to keep a clean sheet in
the first 15 minutes. For me, the entire game went very well. Even after those 15 minutes in the first half, we had 64% possession. That was very positive.
“Maybe we’ve made too many mistakes, but I’m very happy.”
Flick also spoke about Rashford’s contribution after seeing the England star score a header and then smash an unstoppable strike past Nick Pope in the Newcastle goal.
“A goal is a goal. I have to rewatch both goals. The second one was probably better. The important thing is for him to gain confidence. We’re helping him. The second one is very good. I’m not surprised because he scores them in training,” he said.
“With Pedri and Frenkie, it’s not easy to put pressure on us. I think they both played a very good game today. I’m happy that they’re playing with that confidence on this pitch. We’re a very young team. What I can see is that the team is playing with confidence, and that’s very important.”
The win makes it a great start to the Champions League campaign for Barcelona and a huge confidence boost for Rashford as he opens his account in style for the Catalans.
