{"id":404251,"date":"2026-01-10T13:38:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T13:38:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/404251\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T13:38:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T13:38:05","slug":"hansi-flick-insists-barcelona-focus-must-be-on-real-madrid-not-kylian-mbappe-ahead-of-supercopa-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/404251\/","title":{"rendered":"Hansi Flick insists Barcelona focus must be on Real Madrid not Kylian Mbappe ahead of Supercopa final"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barcelona<\/a> coach Hansi Flick insists his team are focused on Real Madrid<\/a>, not the potential return of Kylian Mbapp\u00e9<\/a> in Sunday’s Spanish Supercopa final in Saudi Arabia<\/a><\/p>\n

Mbapp\u00e9, 27, missed Madrid’s semifinal win over Atl\u00e9tico Madrid<\/a> in midweek with a knee injury but has since flown out to Jeddah and could take part in this weekend’s showpiece.<\/p>\n

The French striker has 29 goals this season in all competitions, while he has also scored six times in five Cl\u00e1sicos, although Flick was keen to point out those games have usually ended in Bar\u00e7a victories.<\/p>\n

“How many Cl\u00e1sicos have we played in the last one-and-a-half years?,” Flick questioned in a news conference when asked if his team’s high defensive line could be tested by Mbapp\u00e9.<\/p>\n

“[We have played] five. We lost one, OK? So it’s about that. I know he’s a fantastic player and with space he’s really great, but also for us to compete against one of the best teams in the world.<\/p>\n

“We will adapt like we always do, but it’s not about Mbapp\u00e9, it’s about Madrid and how we want to play. We are focused on our philosophy, our idea how we want to play.<\/p>\n

“We want to play like Bar\u00e7a and Bar\u00e7a’s style is different to Real Madrid’s.”<\/p>\n

Pressed on Mbapp\u00e9’s form this season, Flick added that there is no better front man in the world right now.<\/p>\n

“At the moment, Mbapp\u00e9 is the best striker, it’s like that,” the German coach added. “He has scored many, many goals and is a world class player.”<\/p>\n

Mbapp\u00e9 was on target when Madrid beat Bar\u00e7a 2-1 in LaLiga earlier this season, ending a run of four straight Cl\u00e1sico wins for the Blaugrana under Flick.<\/p>\n

That result took Madrid five points clear of Bar\u00e7a at the top of the table, but there has been a nine-point swing since then, with the Catalan side currently four points clear at the LaLiga summit and on a nine-game winning run.<\/p>\n

“It was only one game,” Flick said of tasting Cl\u00e1sico defeat for the first time in October.<\/p>\n

“[Since then], we came back. We have focused on what is necessary and we play much better and also more successful. This is the thing.<\/p>\n

“The team is very focused. I am happy about this situation at the moment. We want to play on our best level. I have a good feeling about my team. Tomorrow we have to show how good we are.”<\/p>\n

– Transfer window weekly: Real Madrid open to Vin\u00edcius exit? Man United wait for AFCON end<\/a><\/p>\n

– Laurens’ weekend preview: Supercopa Clasico; Istanbul derby; more<\/a><\/p>\n

– Vin\u00edcius Jr. taunts Diego Simeone after Real Madrid, Atl\u00e9tico clash<\/a><\/p>\n

Sunday’s final is the fourth consecutive meeting between Bar\u00e7a and Madrid at this stage.<\/p>\n

The Supercopa has recently proven a marker for what is to come in the second half of the season. The last four winners — Madrid (2022 and 2024) and Bar\u00e7a (2023 and 2025) — have all subsequently gone on to win LaLiga as well.<\/p>\n

Bar\u00e7a won last year’s final 5-2 and not only go into this year’s meeting on a nine-game winning run, but without conceding in their last five games and with a nearly fully fit squad.<\/p>\n

Long-term absentees Gavi<\/a> and Andreas Christensen<\/a> are the only confirmed absences, with Flick confirming Lamine Yamal<\/a> is ready to start after only being fit enough to make the bench for the 5-0 semifinal win over Athletic Club<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Barcelona coach Hansi Flick insists his team are focused on Real Madrid, not the potential return of Kylian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191944,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-404251","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}