Flick says Barca struggled to match Madrid's physicality
Hansi Flick felt a lack of physical freshness cost Barcelona in a game he thought his team controlled, after it slumped to a 2-1 defeat against rival Real Madrid.
The result saw Barca miss the chance to become the first team on record to start a season in one of Europe's top five leagues with 10 straight victories.
Its run of nine wins to open 2026-2027 puts it level with the record starts made by Chelsea in the Premier League in 2005-06 and Madrid in LaLiga in 1968-69.
Madrid has won on four of its last seven trips to Barca in LaLiga, more victories than it managed in its previous 16 such visits, with the result moving it to within three points of the LaLiga leader.
Though Flick was content with aspects of his team's performance, he noted that Madrid had the physical edge throughout the contest.
"I'm not satisfied. We weren't 100 percent fresh, that's the reality," Flick said. "Real Madrid had chances and scored two goals, we had control of the game, but we lacked fluidity in the first half.
"In the second we were doing damage, but that late goal made it 1-2. It's difficult, but we have to accept it.
"We lacked freshness to circulate the ball, and we have to disconnect a little bit now, to regain our best condition and come back fresher."
Barca had 18 shots to Madrid's 10, with 11 of its attempts coming from inside the area.
"There's not much to say. From my point of view, we were superior, but this is Madrid, they can have few chances and still score against you," Barcelona defender Joao Cancelo said.
"We are going to look at the mistakes we made – we have to react. We always want to press high and there are times when we need to have more control of the ball, we lacked that today.
"We are a humble team that likes to work hard, and now, with all the boys, we have to think about Alaves [on Saturday]."
While Barca welcomes Alaves to Camp Nou for its next LaLiga game on Sunday, Madrid is away to Racing Santander the next day.
Having gone down 4-2 to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday, the Blaugrana have now suffered back-to-back defeats in all competitions, having won their first 11 games of the campaign.
