Barcelona manager Hansi Flick after Girona loss – ‘I’ve given the players two days off’

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has decided that a break is the best medicine for his side after a demoralising defeat to Girona on Monday night. Following their 4-0 loss to Atletico Madrid, all of the talk was of a reaction, but their loss to Girona was lacking in both reaction and solutions.

However there was enormous frustration from Can Barca over Girona’s winner, when it appeared that Jules Kounde had been fouled by Claudio Echeverri. Flick did his best to avoid discussing it..

“I don’t want to talk about this; everyone saw what happened on the second goal. You all saw this play. Was it a foul or not, what do you think? [Yes] Thank you very much, there’s no need to say more.”

“We played really badly in the second half. We were poor defensively. There are no excuses, but they’re at the same level as us, so maybe it’s not a good level.”

‘We need to be hungrier to win games’ – Flick

The Blaugrana were unable to impose their press on their Catalan neighbours again, and it showed in Girona’s frequent incisions in their defence.

“The team is tired, not fresh, but we need to be hungrier to win games. More control, fewer mistakes.”

“There are no excuses. We didn’t do our job and we have to improve. The result is what it is. We have to play better. We had many chances in the first half. Girona had them in the second half. In transition, in defense, especially, we didn’t do well.”

More specifically, Flick had criticism for the midfield after the game.

“Our positioning wasn’t good, especially in midfield. We made too many mistakes. We need to get back on track and start playing well again. Right now, we’re not doing things right.”

Flick puts faith in mental reset

Already Flick was looking for ways to break the pattern, and decided that a break was the best thing he could do for his players with most of the week to prepare for their La Liga meeting with Levante.

“I’ve given them two days off. The goal is to mentally reset and recharge before facing the next match. We’re all disappointed. But we’ll fight. It’s time to come back. We’ll return on Thursday with a different mindset and train better:”

Eric García is fine! There's no injury. [@HelenaCondis] pic.twitter.com/M1kZgiXqtS

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) February 17, 2026

Pedri and Marcus Rashford fitness

The German coach also hinted that Barcelona could be boosted by the return of Pedri and Marcus Rashford, who have both missed recent games through injury.

“I hope to have more players back next week. With Pedri, with Rashford… we’ll see about Gavi. We have a new situation and we need to get back to our best.”

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