According to reports, Hans-Dieter Flick, the German coach of Barcelona, is highly dissatisfied with his team’s management after taking the lead against Betis and Celta, as well as early goals conceded in both halves against Dortmund, and the strange drop in form of Frenkie de Jong and the team’s central defenders.

Tuesday’s defeat in Dortmund and Saturday’s match against Celta showed a hopeful face from Flick. In Germany, after the 3-1 victory, he smiled and said: “There was no excessive joy in the locker room, and I reminded my players that we are in the semi-finals.”

In Montjuïc, after embracing Raphinha at the end of the crazy 4-3 victory, he repeated that he was proud of his players and “when you win, even in a crazy match, you love everything.” But that was not the case. Flick was quite angry on Saturday when Barcelona, amid an inexplicable silence, conceded two amateurish goals. The first was due to a glaring mistake by captain Frenkie de Jong, who failed to clear a simple ball, leaving Borja Iglesias in a one-on-one position. The second was even worse: a strange lack of coordination between Cubarsi and Iñigo allowed Borja to easily take the ball and beat Ter Stegen.

This is not the only thing that has upset Flick in recent matches. Barcelona has failed to manage its early leads. Against Betis, Gavi scored in the 7th minute, but 10 minutes later, Nathan equalized from a corner by Lucescu. Against Celta, Ferran Torres’ goal in the first minute lasted only three minutes before Borja equalized; in this scene, the team lacked the intensity and passion of the early season when, after every goal, they scored another and after every attack, they launched another. Perhaps this issue is also related to physical fatigue.

Flick is also complaining about the team’s weak start in each half. In Dortmund, Barcelona conceded the first goal from Gracias in the 11th minute and the second in the 49th minute (the fourth minute of the second half), which panicked the team. Flick knows that the team is tired with the increasing number of matches, and the players are giving everything on the field, as shown by three comebacks from two-goal deficits this season.

But he does not want the team to fall victim to its own arrogance. Now that physical energy is low, focus is vital, although these two may be interdependent. It will be interesting to see how this German coach manages the final six weeks of La Liga and the three big matches against Inter and Real Madrid.