Hansi Flick has revealed that his halftime talk was a major factor in Barcelona’s 7-2 drubbing of Newcastle United in Wednesday’s Champions League encounter.
The Spanish side blew apart their English opponent, scoring four-times in a one-sided second half to seal a massive victory in their Round of 16 second leg clash.
Both sides had played out an entertaining 1-1 draw in the first leg and had all to play for ahead of a crucial second leg at Camp Nou.
However, it was the Spanish champions who sealed an 8-3 aggregate result to advance to the quarterfinals of the competition.
“What we said at half time, the players did it and it is always good when players follow an idea, how we want to make the changes,” Flick said in the postgame news conference.
“It was up and down and it was tough in the first half. We lost many balls. For a team like Newcastle, with fast players, they made fantastic transitions. It was not easy to defend.”
Barcelona twice took the lead in the early stages of the first half and were pegged back by Newcastle.
However, Lamine Yamal’s late penalty gave them a 3-2 advantage heading into the break.
It was a completely different Barcelona side that emerged in the second half as they scored four un-replied goals to seal the victory.
Fermin Lopez (1), Robert Lewandowski (2) and Raphinha all scored in the second half to seal a 7-2 win.
“In the second half, we said we have to control more the game. Push them deeper and try to make our game. I think it works well in the second half”, Flick added.
“It was good to see. Also with the confidence in the second half, it was good to see. We have a very young team and it’s great to see how they improve.”
Barcelona will now face Spanish rivals Atletico Madrid in the last eight, after the Copa del Rey finalists edged Tottenham Hotspur 7-5 on aggregate in their own last 16 clash.
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