Flick: We must accept the international break, and Yamal deserves the Ballon d'Or

Hans Flick, the head coach of Barcelona, discussed the international break, his position on Lamine Yamal, and the Ballon d'Or race during his statements before the match against Racing Santander.

Flick spoke about the international break, confirming that Barcelona does not have the ability to change the fixture schedule: "All these matters I cannot change; for the club, it is not the best situation, and I am honest about that. But we have to accept it, and we have to support the national teams, and that is the only thing we can do. They decided to arrange the schedule this way, and we have to accept that."

Barcelona's coach addressed the possibility of achieving a record number of consecutive victories at the start of the league, clarifying that his focus is on winning the next match. He said: "I am not one of those people who likes to break records and such things; we want to win matches, and that is what we are focusing on, winning the next match."

Flick spoke about the match against Racing Santander: "Tomorrow we have an important game at home against a team that is performing very well. It's great to see them play; they are brave, good in second balls, and have attacking depth. We need to be focused and prove that we are better. It won't be easy, but we are capable of it."

Regarding the management of players' physical condition, Flick said: "Yes, we have to deal with it, today was a recovery day, and the work wasn't too hard, and we'll see tomorrow who will start and who we will give more or fewer minutes to, everyone wants to play and wants to be in the starting lineup, but we have to manage it."

Flick spoke about Gavi, emphasizing the importance of all team members, saying: "Of course, every player is important to us, every player in the team is very important, and we need every player. Gavi's ambition is very high, and he always wants to play."

He added: "He started against Elche, got injured, then returned, but the team is performing well, and we have to accept that. However, we need everyone, and we have to manage the minutes and distribute them. We don't know what will happen at the end of the season, but we need everyone, and in a positive way, he is training well, and that is what I want to see from him."

Regarding the Ballon d'Or, Flick emphasized that the award does not distract Barcelona, stating: "I don't think it distracts us, we are focused, you can't win matches today, and the only thing we can win today is every match, and that is our mentality, hard work every day, and that will bring results, that is what we want, and we are focused on it."

He continued: "Everyone knows that winning titles with the team is important, and that makes you deserving of the Ballon d'Or."

Regarding Lamine Yamal's statements about his desire to win the Ballon d'Or, Flick explained: "It's not easy to answer that, because I'm only talking about Lamine and not about Mbappé. He is honest, he has confidence in himself, and he has proven at the start of this season how good he is and how exceptional he is; that's part of it."

Barcelona's coach said: "I don't prefer that, but he did it, and he has the confidence and wants to win the Ballon d'Or, which is natural for a player; it is an important award, and he is honest because that is how he feels, and we accept that, and I support him of course."

Regarding whether Barcelona are campaigning to support Lamine Yamal in the Ballon d'Or race, Flick said: "Why shouldn't we do that? Why? It's natural, he's our player and we support our player, we are playing well, and this is our position, and it's natural to do that because he is one of our players."

He added: "I can see his level and what he offers us every day and in every training session, and when I see that, of course I support our players."