Barcelona coach Hansi Flick admitted that physical exhaustion led to frequent mistakes.

Barcelona suffered a 2-4 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League away game, ending their brilliant 11-game winning streak at the start of the season across all competitions.

In the post-match press conference, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick admitted that the team faced severe challenges both physically and in terms of tactical execution.

Flick first analyzed the mistakes in the game and the fatigue of the players: "I think both sides put on an extremely exciting game. But we made too many mistakes, especially in terms of ball control, and there were too many unnecessary turnovers."

“This is what we need to analyze. We must understand that these mistakes occurred because the players lacked energy and stamina. The workload they have endured over the past few weeks has been incredible. I greatly appreciate their fighting spirit, and many of their performances in the game were still outstanding.”

When asked about the disruption to his preparations caused by the storms in Spain that led to the cancellation of his return flight after defeating Real Betis over the weekend, Flick explained: "Everyone knows what happened after we beat Betis, so it wasn't an ideal time to rest after the game."

"This isn't an excuse, it's just to help everyone understand why we might not have performed at our highest level today. But we won't win the trophy in October; the Champions League title won't be decided until June of next year, and that's what we're aiming for."

Furthermore, regarding the decision to bring on midfield maestro Rodri as a substitute for the final 30 minutes, Flick confirmed that it was in preparation for Sunday's El Clásico against Real Madrid: "Yes. He has played a lot for the national team before, and has also played the full 90 minutes in the last few games since returning from the international break."

“I spoke with him and made this decision to start Bernal. It’s a good solution for me, and I hope he can stay fit on Sunday.”

Image source: Internet