VIGO: Barcelona manager Hansi Flick said his errant players only had themselves to blame for their 2-2 draw at Celta Vigo in La Liga on Saturday and they were lucky to go back home with a point.

Barca opened two-goal lead thanks to goals by captain Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski but after Marc Casado was sent off with second yellow-card in the 82nd minute, the home-side fought back with two late strikes.

Substitute Alfonso Gonzalez capitalised on a Jules Kounde error to pull a goal back before Hugo Alvarez levelled two minutes later.

“It wasn’t only the last few minutes, we played a really bad game tonight,” Flick told DAZN.

“If you don’t play at 100% you can’t win. That’s just the way it was the whole game. We have to be honest.

“These things happen. It was a bad game. The players are not happy. Everyone can play better than what we did today. You have to stay focused. Sometimes it may seem that what we do is easy but it is not...”

Flick did not point fingers at Casado for the red-card or defender Kounde for a bad mistake that led to Celta’s opener through Gonzalez in the 84th minute, instead he criticised his side’s collective effort and performance.

“The red card and Kounde’s mistake are just a consequence of the bad game from the team. We made a lot of mistakes and lacked confidence on the ball throughout the match,” Flick said.

“We didn’t play the football we are used to but we were lucky with some situations and in the end got a point but we have to react because it cannot be repeated.

“I hope what we saw today doesn’t have a negative impact in our upcoming Champions League game against Brest on Tuesday. We have to learn with the mistakes we move on.”

Barca top the La Liga standings with 34 points, five ahead of Atletico Madrid in second, while champions Real Madrid are third.

Earlier on Saturday, Atletico coach Diego Simeone was able to celebrate his 700th match in charge of the club with a 2-1 comeback win over Deportivo Alaves.

Antoine Griezmann and Alexander Sorloth’s goals helped Atletico come from behind to triumph after Jon Guridi sent Alaves ahead with an early penalty.

Atletico’s Argentine coach Simeone appointed in December 2011, reached a milestone 700th game across all competitions in charge of the club which he has led to La Liga titles in 2014 and 2021.

“It’s a good moment, the boys are working with a lot of responsibility and interpreting what we want and need (from them),” Simeone told DAZN.

“I am at peace. I’m in a place that I love a lot...” The coach, welling up, broke off his sentence and darted off.

“Number 700 is a huge number, congratulations to him, the win is for him, the team, all the fans,” said Giuliano Simeone, his son, who helped Atletico step up a gear in the second half.

Meanwhile, Valencia recorded a 4-2 win over Real Betis which took the east-coast club 18th.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2024