Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has said that his side will not be seeking revenge against Real Madrid in the Spanish Supercup final. The will meet in a highly anticipated El Clasico on Sunday night with the first trophy of the season on the line.
One of the major talking points is the return from injury of Kylian Mbappe, who has flown out to Saudi Arabia on Friday. Flick referred to him as the best striker around.
“Currently, Mbappe is the best striker. He’s scored a huge number of goals and has world-class talent. I know he’s a fantastic player and phenomenal when he has space behind the defence. We’ll adapt some things, as we always do.”
One of the burgeoning narratives in the Catalan media has been that Barcelona’s players were keen to face Real Madrid in the final, seeing it as a chance to get revenge for their defeat earlier this season. In addition, some players seemingly feel they could put the nail in the coffin for Xabi Alonso’s job.
“Personally, I don’t like it. It was just one game. We’ve come back and we’re focused on what’s necessary. We’ve played much better and gotten better results. It was just one game. We’re Barcelona and we want to win everything. That’s what’s important. What I see is that my team is very focused. It’s a long road to the end of the season. Tomorrow we play against one of the best teams in the world and we have to show how good we are.”
Barcelona struggled to get to grips with Mbappe in their first meeting of the season, but Flick said he would not be changing much to halt the Frenchman.
“How many Clasicos have we played in the last year and a half? And how many have we lost? We’ve lost one. That’s what it’s about. I know Mbappe is a fantastic player and that he’s phenomenal when he has space behind the defense. We’ll adapt some things, as we always do. But not specifically because of Mbappe. We’re focused on our philosophy, on our ideas.”
📸 Hansi Flick and Xabi Alonso ahead of tomorrow's final. [@rfef]
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) January 10, 2026
Barcelona’s defence has come under plenty of scrutiny this season, with Flick shuffling through a number of options to replace Inigo Martinez, with their famed offside trap not achieving the same results. Of late, Gerard Martin has been moved from his favoured left-back position into central defence, but Eric Garcia was preferred in the semi-final.
