Flick: " Lamine Yamal is ready to go, I don't know about Olmo and Pau Victor"

Hansi Flick appeared for a second round of press conferences ahead of Barcelona's Spanish Super Cup semi-final against Athletic Club on Wednesday. The German boss was mainly hit by questions regarding Dani Olmo and Pau Victor's registration complications, as the pair hope that the club can resolve the situation when they take their case to Spain's top sports court (CSD).

“I don't think anything is going to happen tomorrow. The only thing we can do is hope," Flick told reporters. “As I said before, it’s not so easy for us not to have two very important players for us. They have improved a lot. Dani Olmo is an excellent player, of course, we miss him. But we have to continue. Of course, it’s going to affect us, but this will allow us to be closer as a team. We have to show that we are a team".

That said, it is not all bad news for the Catalan giants as Flick confirmed Lamine Yamal is ready to feature in Jeddah tomorrow night. The 17-year-old has been sidelined with an ankle injury and is yet to feature for his side in 2025 after sitting out the Copa del Rey tie against Barbastro last week. “I think he has trained three or four times. He is ready, he can play tomorrow,” said the Barca coach.

Speaking on his rivals, Flick said: "Playing against Athletic is always difficult. They are a very good team, they have very good players and a very good philosophy. It’s good to see them play. They have very fast players and they play very well. It will be a very good game". However, Ernesto Valverde's team have been hit by a blow as Nico Williams could sit out the clash due to fitness concerns.

Having been revealed the news, Flick confessed he was not aware of the situation. "I didn’t know that, thank you very much for the information. They have a great team, they don’t depend on just one player", he commented before ending the press conference on a final note on what it would mean for him and the club to win the trophy, as he said: "I feel the team is ready and has the strength to focus only on this. We have to focus on tomorrow’s game and win it. In the end, when we win titles, it is very important for us and it means a lot. We are ready to show by playing a very good game".

 

January 7, 2025