2024-09-25 05:44:17
Hansi Flick and FC Barcelona have had a successful start to the season. And with the sixth win in six games, Flick also knew how to inspire off the pitch.
Despite many absences, Hansi Flick and his team beat FC Villarreal 5-1 on Sunday. It was his sixth win in six games as head coach of FC Barcelona. Because of the many absences, Flick also took some talented players with him to Vila Real for the match. Among them was Antonio Fernández, the 16-year-old striker who had already attracted some attention before the match.
A scene that was also shown on Spanish TV quickly spread online. It shows Fernández taking a shortcut to his place on the substitutes’ bench before the game. Instead of going around the outside, the 16-year-old climbs over the head coach’s seat.
Flick, who comes to the bench shortly afterwards, sees his dirty chair and looks at Fernández and the man next to him in the row behind him. Flick points his finger at Fernández. “Was that you?” says the 59-year-old without saying it. Fernández shakes his head, but the German coach doesn’t believe him so easily. There are stud marks on the seat. With a smile on his face, he asks his young protégé to lift his shoes. And lo and behold, Fernández no longer denies the “act”.
The short clip amused viewers both in the studio of the Spanish TV channel Movistar Plus, which broadcasts La Liga, and online.
“He’s like a father to them,” one fan wrote enthusiastically on X. Another commented under the video: “This is what happens when you coach a team full of toddlers.”
In fact, Flick is currently without many players due to his team’s long injury list. The German coach likes to fill the squad with talents from La Masia, Barça’s youth academy. There will also be some young players in the next league game on Wednesday against Getafe (live ticker on t-online from 9 p.m.). Possibly also Antonio Fernández, who will probably sit on the bench in a different position this time.