'Disconnected' Barca must accept recent 'slump', says Flick

Barcelona boss Hansi Flick said he still believes in his players despite extending their winless LaLiga run to three matches with defeat to Las Palmas on Saturday.

Raphinha's 61st minute strike had cancelled out Sandro Ramirez's opener, only for Fabio Silva to restore Las Palmas' advantage six minutes later to seal the win.

The result opened the door for Barcelona's rivals Real Madrid to close the gap at the top against Getafe on Sunday, finding themselves four points behind in second with two games in hand.

But Flick's side had enough chances to earn a victory on their 125th anniversary celebrations, ending the contest with an expected goals (xG) of 2.32 to Las Palmas' 0.5.

Barca mustered 28 shots, though only seven were on target, compared to their opponents' five attempts on Inaki Pena's goal, with Flick acknowledging that his side are disjointed at each end of the pitch.

"I don't think there is a lack of confidence in the players. Players alone can't win games. It's always about the team. We need to have good connections in defence and in attack, and today we didn't have them," Flick told reporters.

"I believe in the players. I have confidence in them, but things are as they are. When I started here, I told them there would be no excuses.

"It's normal that some players, when they come back from injury, are not at the highest level. But if we play as a team, we should be able to beat any team, but if some players are disconnected, it doesn't go well."

14 - Barcelona have hit the woodwork 14 times in LaLiga 2024/25, four times more than any other team in the Top 5 European leagues this season (Bayer Leverkusen, Lille and Cagliari, 10 times each). Jam. pic.twitter.com/wRBg0IzJ3p

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) November 30, 2024

Barcelona do not return to the Camp Nou until 15th December against Leganes, with away games at Mallorca and Real Betis in LaLiga followed by Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League to come.

"We have to accept the slump, now another month starts. The team has the quality," Flick said. "Today it was not possible. In front of goal we were not able to score."

Raphinha, who netted the equaliser, was one of Barca's biggest threats, having registered more shots on target (three) and creating more chances (five) than any of his team-mates.

The Brazilian also struck the crossbar and had a free-kick brilliantly tipped over the bar by Jasper Cillessen, but knows his side must return to winning ways if they are to challenge for the title.

"We were bad in the game. We have to look at what we are doing wrong to try to improve and win the games," he said.

"We have dropped the level of what we were doing and this is making games more difficult for us.

"I don't care about the goal, I care about the victory. We didn't win, and I'm not satisfied with the match. Am I angry? Yes."