The second leg of the 2025/26 Copa del Rey semi-final will take place, with Barcelona hosting Atletico Madrid. Although they cannot enter this crucial match with a lead, Flick urged his players to show fighting spirit and turn the impossible into possible.

In the first leg of the semi-final, Barcelona conceded four goals in the first half and ultimately suffered a humiliating 0-4 defeat to Atletico Madrid, thus failing to carry an advantage into the second leg.

However, in the earlier La Liga match, Barcelona relied on Yamal's hat-trick and Lewandowski's goal to defeat Villarreal 4-1 and take the top spot in the standings, which boosted the players' confidence.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said at a press conference, "We have the desire to achieve our goals, and I hope to see that fighting spirit, but we must also keep a clear head."

"We were down by four goals, and we had to turn the impossible into possible; that was our goal. It certainly wouldn't be easy, but we wouldn't give up. Keeping a clean sheet was important, but we had to believe in our abilities and that we could do it. We had to maintain that belief at all times, like needing to score two goals in each half."

Flick emphasized, "We must be smarter, we must dominate the game and win the duels, making it more difficult for them. We cannot easily lose possession because they are very dangerous in transition. We must unite, especially tomorrow. Our job is to do things well tomorrow; we will be playing at home, and we want to win. But to reach the final, we must do more."

“I believe the fans will support us, and for me, it’s important that everyone who wants to cheer for the team can shout their hearts out. We must build a perfect relationship between the team and its supporters. I really enjoy the feeling when people come to the stadium to cheer for us.”

It is worth noting that Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski suffered an orbital fracture and will therefore be unable to participate in this match.

Flick stated, "We had to deal with Lewandowski's absence; we were indeed unlucky. Losing a player like him, along with other players who are unavailable, is certainly a problem, but the team is handling it well."

Image source: Internet