Laporta: Flick Exceeded Our Expectations, and Barcelona is Living a Wonderful Moment
Laporta spoke about the relationship between Barcelona and Real Madrid, saying: “Florentino Perez congratulated me after the cup final, we have a relationship built on mutual respect, and we spoke before and after the match. We dealt with what happened in the days leading up to the match as part of their strategy, but we focused solely on football and stayed away from any side issues or noise.”
Regarding Koundé’s goal, he said: “After Jules Koundé’s goal, I jumped from my seat spontaneously, I was sitting between the President of the Catalan Government and a Spanish minister, I didn’t want to show disrespect, so I quickly raised my arms and sat down again, it was just an instinctive reaction.”
Laporta talked about the refereeing in the cup final, saying: “I liked the referee’s performance overall, of course, there is no perfect match, but the referee was good and relied on VAR for some decisions, I have nothing to criticize.”
On Barcelona’s performance under Flick, he added: “Reality has surpassed all our expectations, we were optimistic, but the team, Flick, and the coaching staff have raised the level of expectations thanks to the great work they have done, we are living a moment that we should be proud of.”
Regarding Flick’s contract, he pointed out: “Hans Flick is a great coach who fits perfectly with Barcelona both sportingly and humanly, we have an agreement with him for this season and the next, Flick prefers to work year by year, and we respect his wish, and the sports committee is planning well for the future.”
Laporta revealed who chose Flick, saying: “The decision to hire Flick was made by Deco and Bojan, they analyzed his personality and coaching skills. I was impressed with Flick from the beginning and agreed with their decision, but I always ensure that everything is approved by the board of directors.”
On the future of Lamine Yamal, he confirmed: “Renewing with Lamine Yamal is a technical decision handled by the sports committee, but there is an economic aspect that goes back to the board and the president, we are working to secure the player’s future.”
Regarding facing Inter Milan in the Champions League, Laporta said: “We are now in a Champions League position, the players are mentally and physically ready, and we have complete confidence in them, and in Flick.”
