Flick admits Barcelona is less motivated in LaLiga
Barcelona takes on Espanyol in a LaLiga derby this weekend, but Hansi Flick has admitted his players are more motivated in UEFA Champions League matches than they are in domestic fixtures.
The Blaugrana suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie in midweek, with the game turning on Pau Cubarsi's red card late in the first half.
While it has a mountain to climb to keep its European dream alive, Barca is the strong favourite to retain its domestic title with eight games still to play.
Flick's team welcomes neighbour Espanyol to Camp Nou on Sunday (AEST), having not lost at home to it since February 2009, when Mauricio Pochettino was in charge of the visitor.
But Flick says it is normal that the UEFA Champions League takes up more of Barca's energy, saying: "Of course, LaLiga is the basis, that's why you're playing in the [UEFA] Champions League.
"But the dream for every player, club, fans, coaches is to win [UEFA] Champions League; to play in the [UEFA] Champions League. This is why we are here.
"In every game you see the team is five per cent more than 100 per cent motivated. This is the competition, this is why we are here.
"We have to do our daily job in LaLiga, but in the end the most important thing is to win the [UEFA] Champions League. This is the goal from my side, the players and the club."
Barca released an extraordinary statement on Friday (AEST) in which it requested an investigation into the way its game against Atleti was officiated, after Marc Pubill avoided conceding a penalty for seemingly handling the ball from a goal-kick inside his own area.
"It's great the club supports us," Flick said. "Everyone knows it was really unfair. You can make a mistake once but not twice [the referee and the video assistant referee], in a crucial situation.
"When we have VAR, if there's something he sees that is not correct, he has to call and say 'Now look at this.' I didn't see this in our match.
"In the end, we also didn't play our best game on Wednesday [Thursday AEST]. We also make some mistakes. But this is really crucial. For us it's not good. The game is decided and does not feel good."
Espanyol is 10th on the table, only three points adrift of seventh-placed Real Sociedad and still in with a chance of qualifying for Europe.
