"Flick was back on the touchline of the club's beloved Camp Nou for only the second time since its re-opening, following a long period of extensive renovations. And yet the Barça boss looked like a man who'd won the lottery jackpot, but lost the ticket: slumped in his seat long after the final whistle, looking like there were tears in his eyes, wearing a blank thousand-yard stare, with a metaphorical black cloud over his head. One of his players, Raphinha, was standing over him protectively, looking to all the world as if he were counselling his boss. And this after a victory."
"Barcelona briefed that their coach was frustrated at not being able to communicate with the fourth official, but nobody believed the party line. Many who follow the club interpreted his demeanour as due to the repeated lackadaisical flaws he sees in a team he keeps promising will improve, but which instead keeps on churning up the same errors and, frankly, the same air of complacency where they are supposed to be breathing fire and brimming with intensity. Not to ignore his disappointment at two of his assistants, Markus Sorg and José Ramon De La Fuente, incurring red cards."
Barcelona beat Alavés 3-1 at the Camp Nou to move clear at the top of LaLiga after conceding an early goal. Hansi Flick returned to the renovated stadium but appeared visibly distraught and withdrawn even after the victory. Raphinha stood over Flick in a protective manner while the coach sat slumped with a distant stare. The club said Flick was frustrated by an inability to communicate with the fourth official, but observers linked his mood to persistent lackadaisical errors and a worrying sense of complacency within the team. Two assistants, Markus Sorg and José Ramon De La Fuente, received red cards.
Read at ESPN.com
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