Flick hails ´wonderful´ Barcelona production line as academy graduates impress against Osasuna

Hansi Flick heaped praise upon the “wonderful” work carried out at La Masia after Barcelona’s youngsters shone in a 2-0 win over Osasuna.

Barca moved seven points clear of Real Madrid at the top of LaLiga as Raphinha struck twice in the final 20 minutes at Camp Nou, with the pressure firmly on Los Blancos ahead of their trip to Alaves on Sunday.

Flick’s team have now won seven consecutive games in LaLiga by at least two goals – the first time Barca have accomplished that feat since stringing together eight such victories under Luis Enrique and Ernesto Valverde in 2017.

But the Blaugrana boss preferred to focus on his defenders, who limited Osasuna to just three shots and 0.37 expected goals (xG), compared to 24 shots and 2.61 xG for Barca.

Three members of Barca’s back four were aged 23 or younger, in Gerard Martin, Alejandro Balde and teenager Pau Cubarsi, while Eric Garcia – a fourth academy product – impressed in midfield alongside Pedri.

“The important thing was the three points. We controlled the game; in defence we did very well. Maybe we didn’t have great chances, but we have the three points,” Flick said.

“I don’t think too much about the rest of the teams. We want to go to Villarreal and win. It’s good that the opponents feel under pressure, but that is not in our hands.

“After a few weeks in which we suffered, we are back. With all the players close to 100%, you can see the ability of the team.”

Garcia completed 93.8% of his passes (75/80) and created two chances from the base of midfield, also contesting 11 duels and winning two tackles.

Martin, meanwhile, had the most touches (112) and accurate passes (93) of any player on the field, matching Balde’s game-high 95.9% passing accuracy.

Flick said: “Eric gives us stability, he played a fantastic game. Gerard has improved a lot.

“And I have already spoken enough about Cuba in the past. Playing at this level at 18 years old is brutal.

“I have to congratulate La Masia for what they have done with the young players. It’s really wonderful.”

Osasuna are only outside the relegation zone on goal difference, but their head coach Alessio Lisci felt the game represented a missed opportunity for his team.

“We have to be angry, we didn’t come here on holiday, but to score. Their first goal comes from a situation that we had very, very worked on,” he said.

“We had them where we wanted them. We were controlling them well. In transition we potentially generated dangerous chances, but we had to do more with the ball.”