Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick stated his side are not one to find “excuses” after rivals Real Madrid expressed extreme displeasure with Spanish referees following their surprise LaLiga defeat at the weekend.
Los Blancos lost 1-0 against Espanyol on Saturday and then sent an angry letter to the Spanish Football Federation raging at the country’s officiating as “rigged” and “completely discredited.”
Madrid expressed their anger after Espanyol’s Carlos Romero was not sent off for bringing down striker Kylian Mbappe and the defender went on to net the winning goal.
“This [letter] is their choice, they do it like this, it’s not our way – I said no excuses and we will do it like that,” Flick said in a news conference ahead of Barcelona’s Copa del Rey quarter-final at Valencia on Thursday.
“Every club has some reasons to say something. We’re humans, it’s normal in life, everyone makes mistakes.
“The referees have tough jobs. We have to take care of them, it’s not easy in this situation… when I arrived I said no excuses, no complaining and no blaming, I don’t like that.”
Real Madrid still sit at the top of LaLiga by one point ahead of city rivals Atletico Madrid, whom they host on Saturday.
Record 31-time Spanish cup winners Barcelona thrashed Valencia 7-1 in LaLiga in January but Flick admitted the task at Mestalla would be harder.
“The atmosphere [previously there] was unbelievable, and they press well, and it was not easy to win there, and I think it will be the same tomorrow,” added Flick.
“It’s a cup match and you cannot win a trophy tomorrow but you can lose one, and this we don’t want to do.”
