Hansi Flick: "I'll be happy when everything about the 'Golden Ball' is over"

Unbeaten Barcelona continues their La Liga campaign with a home fixture against newly promoted Santander on Wednesday evening. The champions will be aiming for their seventh consecutive victory across all competitions. This match precedes a clash with Sevilla on Saturday, after which a three-week international break will commence. The topic of the "Golden Ball" and Lamine Yamal's ambitions to win it is another current talking point among the Catalans. Head coach Hansi Flick expressed support for his player but also admitted he wants the matter resolved as soon as possible. Here's what the German coach had to say on various issues during his regular press conference:

How will you manage the squad's workload given the international break?
These are things I cannot change. Everything has been scheduled back-to-back after a long World Cup. This would be necessary, but it's not the best option for the club. Otherwise, everyone wants to play and be a starter.

Camp Nou will host the Champions League final in 2029.
Our dream is to win the tournament before then. Otherwise, it's good news for the club. This stadium, once completed, will be incredible.

Would you like to be Barcelona's coach for that final?
I will be there 100 percent. Absolutely. As a coach or as a fan – we'll see. I enjoy life in Barcelona, coaching Barça. But you never know what might happen.

Lamine Yamal wants the "Golden Ball"
Of course, it's not easy to answer that because I can only speak for Lamine, not for Mbappé. I think Lamine is sincere and has that self-confidence. He shows how good he is; he is exceptional. Perhaps I would have preferred it if he hadn't said it, but he did – he said he wants to win the "Golden Ball." This is very important to him. He has that feeling, and we must accept it. I will support him.

Is there a campaign by Barcelona for Yamal to win the trophy?
And why shouldn't we run one? He is our player, and we support our players. It's always like that. I support players who have confidence, and right now we are playing well. They are our players; I see what they show every day in training. And, of course, I can support them without any problem. Otherwise, there are people who will decide who wins. And I personally will be very happy when this is decided and everything is over.

Lamine is improving his statistics
Currently, Yamal is in very good form. He now knows he can score, and this is evident in matches – he has more opportunities to find the net. His confidence in finishing attacks is incredible. He is in a great moment and playing at a very high level. I always say: when you see him in training, you know what will happen in the match.

Last year you said: "Ego kills success"
You can't win titles today; you can only win them when the time is right. That is our mindset. For now, it's up to us to give our all every day, and the results will come. We are focused on that. Everyone knows that between the "Golden Ball" or team trophies, for me, team trophies are more important.

Gavi's moment
All players are important to us; all the players we have in the squad are very important, and we need all of them. Gavi has enormous ambition and always wants to play. He started in the first match, then got injured, and then returned. The team is functioning well, but we need everyone. The most important thing is for everyone to know that we need them and that they must be positive.

The record is seven wins in the first seven matches
What we want is to win every game. But we don't think about other things, just about tomorrow. And tomorrow we have an important home match against an opponent who is performing very well. It's impressive to watch them play, with the courage they show on the field. They always attack deep, exploit spaces… It won't be an easy game, and we need everyone to be very focused and show that we are the best.

Limited playing time for Balde
Currently, we have five central defenders and two full-backs. João Cancelo can also play (on the left), and no one expected this level from Xavi Espart. Balde needs to give his best, and he is doing so. He is not happy about not getting minutes. He was used to being a key player, and it's normal for him not to be happy. But things change, new players arrive, young players, new things happen in the team, and we have to manage them. He is doing well. Everyone competes, and we always have players who can play in that position. But managing all of this is the hardest part.