Chelsea defeated FC Barcelona 3-0 at Stamford Bridge last night, giving them a reality check in the UEFA Champions League. Ronald Araujo’s dismissal made the match even more difficult for the defending La Liga winners, who were outplayed from the start.
Barcelona will probably need to make it through the playoff rounds in order to advance to the knockout stages, since their prospects of finishing in the top eight are quite limited. In order to give their players a vacation, Barcelona changed their Wednesday schedule, according to SPORT.
The coaching staff chose to postpone Hansi Flick’s team’s scheduled 1 pm training session at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper in favour of the team’s physical recuperation.
The lack of sleep after the flight from London was the obvious explanation for the choice. After the game against Chelsea, the team arrived in Barcelona at about 4.30 am, leaving the players with very little sleep.
Flick offers hope for the future
In addition, Flick responded to Ronald Araujo’s first-half red card, which made it difficult for Barcelona to win the game in west London.
“I have no idea what went wrong with the first yellow. I need to talk to him and watch the footage. He shouldn’t have entered the game in that manner for the second foul; it wasn’t the proper course of action, but it does happen in football.
Flick made the decision to be hopeful for the future even though it was a very challenging and terrible night for Barcelona. He thinks his team will do much better in the upcoming weeks, beginning on Saturday when they play Alaves at the Spotify Camp Nou.
I see how we work out. I notice both the intensity and the excellence. It’s very different from perhaps six weeks ago, and from what I can see, the guys are returning and the training has greatly improved in quality. And I feel pretty comfortable about that and appear optimistic.
