Madrid [Spain], November 29: Hansi Flick has lost one key player but recovers two more as his FC Barcelona side looks to put Tuesday's Champions League disappointment behind it and go top of La Liga on Saturday.
Tuesday's 3-0 defeat away to Chelsea showed that Barcelona's defense is still vulnerable and that Flick's side can be outmuscled by top European rivals, but Deportivo Alaves should offer some relief in the second game to be played in the partly refurbished Camp Nou Stadium.
In his pre-game press conference, the coach insisted that not only defenders have to defend.
"There are people who don't know what we need to play with such a high defensive line. It's not just about the defenders; it's about the forwards, the midfield, about everyone being able to press."
"It seems like the defense is being blamed, but that's not fair. If we don't press well as a unit, we'll always have problems," he explained.
Alaves has one of the best defensive records in La Liga with just 12 goals conceded in 13 games so far, but the weak point of the side coached by Eduardo Caudet is obvious, with only 11 goals scored in those matches.
The side from the city of Vitoria has good forwards in Toni Martinez and Lucas Boye, but lacks the pace that has caused so many problems to Barcelona's high defensive line this season.
"We're only thinking about beating Alaves," added Flick, admitted the defeat to Chelsea had affected morale.
"We're all feeling down, but we talked about it in training today and I see good momentum, good intensity (.) We have confidence with and without the ball, but we have to show it on the pitch," he commented.
Barcelona has mixed news on the injury front in the week, with Pedri, Marcus Rashford and Raphinha all training with the rest of the squad and the trio is available for Saturday's game, but that good news was contrasted by Fermin Lopez suffering a calf injury that will keep him out of action for around two weeks, while Flick also explained in his press conference that defender Ronald Araujo missed Friday's training session with a stomach bug.
The good news is that he should be able to field his first-choice attack of Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha for the first time this season.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
