By admin 
Hansi Flick is adamant that Barcelona’s success this season is the result of hard work rather than luck.
As the Blaugrana prepare for Wednesday’s Copa del Rey clash against Atletico Madrid, the head coach is looking at every game as a final from now until the end of the season.
Barcelona and Atletico played out an incredible 4-4 draw in the first leg of their semi-final in February. Now, they meet again at the Metropolitano to decide who will advance to the final on April 26, where they will face either Real Madrid or Real Sociedad.
“It’s like a final before the final,” Barca coach Flick said on Tuesday during his pre-match press conference. “They want to reach this final and it is the same with us.
“My team, the players can be proud about what they’re doing. We’re working hard and what we achieve is not luck, they earned it. This is the positive thing. They can be very proud.
“We know that until now we have not reached [anything] – OK, we won the [Spanish] Supercopa, but it’s in the past – and now we want to go to the final, but it’s not easy.
🎙️ HANSI FLICK: “We want to go to the final, but it’s not easy. Atlético has a great coach and the squad is very experienced.” #AtletiBarça pic.twitter.com/eTsqlbCV6M
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 1, 2025
“Atletico have a great coach with [Diego] Simeone, an experienced squad, they know how they want to play. You can see in the matches before until the last second they are there. It will be a difficult match.”
Atletico Madrid last topped LaLiga in December after defeating Barca and were still competing in the Champions League at that point.
However, their season has quickly fallen apart, and they now trail Barcelona by nine points in the league standings, while also being knocked out of the Champions League at the hands of Real Madrid.
With the Copa del Rey now Atletico’s best opportunity for silverware, Flick does not believe this will make them more dangerous than before.
“Maybe it’s the nearest title they can win, but it’s the same for us,” he said. “One win and then in a final. Whereas in LaLiga there are a lot of matches to play.
“Atletico will play like they normally play, nothing different. They have their style. The intensity is always high, aggressive. This is normal. I love how they play football, also with a lot of speed in their game. I love their style, how they play.”