Barcelona, April 8 (IANS) FC Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick is looking forward to reuniting with Borussia Dortmund’s Niko Kovac as the two sides will clash at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Thursday (IST) in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.
The two sides met earlier in the league stage of the tournament where Barcelona prevailed 3-2. Quite a lot has changed at Dortmund since the last meet. The biggest is on the bench, where Nuri Sahin is no longer coach, having been replaced by Kovac, somebody Hansi Flick knows too well. The duo worked together at Bayern Munich in 2019/2020, when the current Barca boss was the Croatian’s assistant.
“It’s something I’ve thought about a lot. It’s good that I know Niko and he can help us. Our job is to prepare ourselves. Niko is a fantastic coach, a wonderful person and I’m looking forward to meeting him again.”
“They are a very good team. Niko will be able to put out a good line-up. They are strong defensively and I wish the injured players all the best. They have some very good players and it’s a pity, but they have enough players to make up for their losses,” said Flick in the pre-game conference.
“The confidence has changed a bit. The results they’ve had in the Champions League and Bundesliga have given them confidence. They have more concrete goals. They are a team with great pace, they think in an attacking way and we’ll have to be up to the task,” he added when asked what was the major differences between the side they faced earlier in the season and the current team.
The German coach has been one of the biggest names who has recently talked about the overbearing schedule that players have to face in the modern game. When asked about it on Tuesday, Flick remained solid saying it won’t make his side suffer.
“It’s important to focus on the current things and we have to think about every game. We have to see how tired the players are, that’s important, or if we have to change positions.
“I am happy because right now we have a lot of players who can cover several positions. We have this schedule, but it won’t make us suffer. Our goal is to win every single match. We can deal with it. We are very proud,” he said.
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