UEFA Champions League UCL:Flick Downplays Barca As Title Favourite

Talk of Barcelona winning the Champions League trophy this year has been downplayed by coach Hansi Flick, who stated that his team’s primary priorities were winning Tuesday’s match against Benfica and improving in their areas of weakness.

Liverpool is now leading the Champions League standings with a perfect 18 points, three points clear of second-place Barcelona, and six teams behind on 13 points, according to Flick.

The following 16 teams compete in two-leg playoffs for the opportunity to join the top eight, who are automatically advanced to the round of 16. Benfica has 10 points and is currently in 15th place.

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The future will tell whether we are among the favourites or not,” Flick told a press conference on Monday.

“The Champions League is one of the most difficult competitions to win, but we have to try.

“When I look at Liverpool I see a team with incredible power. They are one of my favourite teams in the world right now.

“We are doing well but there are very good teams that are also doing well and we are contending on three fronts (Champions League, LaLiga and Copa del Rey).

“Benfica is a team that plays very well, it’s a pleasure to see how they build. Angel Di Maria is one of my favourite players.

Let’s see how we do tomorrow …”

Barcelona is lagging behind in La Liga despite their Champions League performance and their quarterfinal spot in the Copa del Rey following a 5-1 thumping of Real Betis last week.

After a 1-1 draw at lowly Getafe on Saturday, they are now on a four-game losing run.

Their last league triumph was a 5-1 victory away to Mallorca in early December.

Third place With 39 points from 20 games, Barcelona is seven points behind leaders Real Madrid and five behind Atletico Madrid.

Despite the dismal run, Flick expressed satisfaction with his team’s La Liga results and stated he was excited to play in Benfica’s stadium, where he won the Champions League in 2020 with Bayern Munich after defeating Paris St. Germain.

I have great memories of this stadium,” Flick said.

“If you look at the LaLiga results, we are not doing a good job but if you look at our games we are playing very well.

“Despite the results, I would say that the team is playing great and working very focused.

“As I said in Getafe, it’s my first season here and in LaLiga. (I) had no experience and I didn’t know how the opposition were going to play.

“Our goal is to win against Benfica. It would be a big step for us and we want to do it. In the position we’re in, being second, it’s important to secure these points.

“There are a lot of games left between now and the end of the season and we could save two games if we avoid the playoffs by finishing in the top eight.”


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