“He’s a gentleman” – Hansi Flick was honoured for his gesture during Barcelona’s league title celebrations after he took home the La Liga trophy in his first season as Barcelona manager.
The German manager already has the Champions League and Bundesliga trophy with Bayern Munich on his CV along with the World Cup Gold with Germany.
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Barcelona secured their 28. La Liga title with a 2-0 win over Espanyol in the Catalan derby on Thursday. This is the second time in three seasons they have achieved this on their city rival’s home ground. Of course, this created a tense situation for Los Pericos, who did not want to see any celebrations.
There were some embers of celebration, but in the end, the Barcelona players and staff quickly left the pitch to celebrate in the dressing room. One of the reasons for this was Hansi Flick, who was seen leading his players off the pitch at RCDE Stadium.
Manolo Gonzalez praises Hansi Flick for the gesture
Espanyol manager Manolo Gonzalez praised Flick for this gesture when he spoke to the media after the game, according to Diario AS.
“He has shown all year that he is a good coach with common sense. He is a gentleman. It makes no sense to celebrate the league title on your eternal rival’s home ground when you can celebrate it calmly and without provoking anyone.”
Gonzalez also spoke about the match itself and expressed that he thought Espanyol were unlucky to lose to their city rival.
“I don’t think the result was fair. We knew what game we were going to face. We had very clear chances, we attacked very well. If we had taken the lead in the first half, the game would have changed a lot.”
Gonzalez reveals conversation with Lamine Yamal after red card
One of the big topics of discussion of the match was Leandro Cabrera’s red card after a tackle on Lamine Yamal. Gonzalez gave his opinion on the matter and also revealed what he said to the Barcelona star after the incident.
“We are destroying football. He does not have the strength to hurt anyone. To fall to the ground like that, you have to do good. We all know that theatre is something they (in Barcelona) master well – not just now, but for many years. It’s an avoidable act, but neither worth falling for, nor giving a red card for.”
“I told him that he jumped, no more, and that he had to stop throwing himself and provoking.”
It was a draw against Espanyol.
Then Lamine Yamal stepped up – and shot home Barcelona’s 28th league title with a dream goal. We are experiencing something with this 17-year-old that we have never experienced before,” says Adam Pinthorp on Swedish TV 4’s live broadcast.
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Before the away derby against Espanyol, the conditions were crystal clear. Victory meant that the gap down to Real Madrid would be unattainable with two rounds left to play.
And so it was. The derby at RCDE Stadium ended 0-1 to Barça in normal time, so 5 minutes into injury time, another of Barcelona’s young players, 22-year-old Fermín López, scored the 0 – 2 goal with an assist from Lamine Yamal.
The first half did not offer many scoring chances and ended goalless. But Barcelona had the most possession and controlled the game.
Early in the second half, a certain 17-year-old struck. His name is Lamine Yamal, and he is considered by many to be the best footballer in the world right now.
The youngster swung in from the right and shot the ball straight up into the cross with his left foot.
“What a goal! Lamine Yamal scores another dream goal, and it smells like gold. He seems unstoppable”
Expert commentator Marcelona Fernandez added:
“It’s as if he just decides: ‘Enough is enough’. The feeling is that he gets a little too long a touch, but he still manages to keep up. It will be very open there – oh my god. The precision, the strength… Oh my god.
“It’s an insane level. We are experiencing something with this 17-year-old that we have never experienced before”
Scenes of joy unfolded as the Catalan club won their 28th league title. – Real Madrid, who won last season, have won the league 36 times.
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