Barcelona coach Hansi Flick doesn’t see his team as favorites in the Champions League this season. Instead, he considers Liverpool to be the top contenders. The Barça boss also admits he enjoys watching the English side play.
Barcelona will face Benfica on Tuesday in the Champions League. Despite losing their top spot in La Liga and dropping to third, the Catalan club is performing well in Europe, sitting second among 36 teams with 15 points from six matches. Liverpool, however, leads the pack with six wins from six games.
Speaking ahead of the Benfica clash, Flick acknowledged the challenges of winning the title but placed Liverpool as the frontrunners.
“Only time will tell if we are among the favorites or not. Winning the Champions League is one of the hardest things to achieve. Of course, we’ll give it our best shot.”
“When I look at Liverpool, I see an unbelievably strong team. Right now, they’re one of my favorite teams in the world. We’re doing well, too, but many other teams are performing exceptionally. We’re competing in three tournaments (La Liga, Champions League, and Copa del Rey), so we have to fight on multiple fronts.”
For now, Flick is focused on the Benfica match rather than thinking about the trophy. His goal is to avoid the playoff round by finishing in the top eight.
“Benfica is a very good team. Watching how they build their attacks is fascinating. Ángel Di María is one of my favorite players, and it will be interesting to see how we perform in this game.”
“Our objective is to beat Benfica. It’s a significant step forward, and we want to take it. Securing every point is vital as we aim to finish second. If we can stay in the top eight, we’ll avoid playing the two additional playoff matches.”
