Flick Confirms New Contract, Addresses Yamal's Palestinian Flag Display

Barcelona's head coach, Hansi Flick, who secured the Spanish championship title on Sunday, addressed the media ahead of tomorrow's away game against Alavés. The Catalan giants clinched their 29th league title in the sweetest possible fashion – with a 2-0 victory over arch-rivals Real Madrid. Yesterday, the team celebrated the trophy with a spectacular parade through the streets of Barcelona.

The German coach, who tragically lost his father on the very day of El Clásico, reiterated the team's clear objective for the remainder of the season: “Our goal is to reach 100 points, and we must win all three remaining matches. We celebrated a lot, but we are still capable of playing well.”

Regarding the practically certain extension of his contract, currently set to expire in 2027, Flick responded: “Has it been announced? I apologize, but I've had a lot on my mind. I am very grateful to the club that I will be able to coach until 2028. The club will have the right to terminate it, as will I. We will discuss this additional optional year later. In recent days, it has become clear to me that I am in the right place. Now we must continue to win and try to win the Champions League again. I am very grateful to the club for their trust.”

“The important thing is the combination of La Masia with top-class players, which is what we have here. Lewandowski and Rashford? I value them greatly, I am very grateful to them, but we need to analyze everything and we will see at the end of the season.”

On the egos at Barça and Real Madrid, the coach continued: “I don't think about Real Madrid for a moment; every coach has their own issues within their team. New signings have been discussed with Deco; we know exactly what we are looking for, but it's not finalized yet.”

When asked about the Palestinian flag displayed by young star Lamine Yamal during yesterday's Barcelona parade, Flick replied: “I usually don't like this topic. I spoke with him; we need to consider what people expect from us, but he is an adult, he is 18 years old, it's his decision... And it was very emotional to see tears in people's eyes during the celebration. The first thing we need to do is make people happy. And I am proud of that, and I told the players, because it was a difficult season due to injuries.”

“There were key players who were unavailable at certain times, like Lamine, Pedri, Raphinha, Frenkie... And it's incredible what a season we've had and how much we've improved in the last two months, both in attack and defense. We are the team with the fewest goals conceded, and no one expected that,” Flick added.