Flick lauds Yamal, 'not a kid,' as Barça nears title

BARCELONA, Spain -- Barcelona manager Hansi Flick lauded Lamine Yamal's grown-up show aft the teen helped his broadside determination to the brink of the LaLiga rubric aft coming from down to bushed Real Madrid 4-3 connected Sunday.

Yamal, 17, scored Barça's 2nd goal, angling a superb changeable into the country from conscionable wrong the area, arsenic they recovered from conceding 2 aboriginal Kylian Mbappé's strikes to pb 4-2 astatine half-time.

Mbappé completed his chapeau instrumentality aft the interruption to acceptable up a nervy finish, but Barça held connected astatine the Olympic Stadium to determination 7 points wide of their Clásico rivals with conscionable 3 games to play.

"He's not a kid," Flick said successful a quality league erstwhile asked astir Yamal taking connected truthful overmuch work astatine specified a young age. "He's doing good. He has the confidence, the self-confidence, the content successful what helium tin do. Also he's precise clever.

"He brought america backmost [into the match] contiguous with his goal, a precise important goal. This, astatine 17 years old, it's truly precocious quality. This is what we privation from him."

On different day, Yamal mightiness person ended the crippled with a fistful of assists, too, though immoderate wayward finishing from his teammates, notably Raphinha, who inactive managed to people twice, meant helium lone had his extremity to amusement for different superb display.

Barça present request conscionable 2 points to triumph LaLiga with 3 matches to play. They could assertion the rubric arsenic aboriginal arsenic Thursday, erstwhile they question to section rivals Espanyol, oregon adjacent connected Wednesday if Madrid driblet points against Mallorca.

"No, it's football," Flick added erstwhile asked if winning the league was present a foregone decision aft a 4th Clásico triumph this season. "You don't cognize what happens, but we're successful a bully position. We request [two] much points. This is what we privation to marque arsenic soon arsenic possible."

If Barça bash get implicit the enactment successful the league, it volition implicit a home treble. Flick's broadside person already won the Spanish Supercopa and the Copa del Rey, beating Madrid successful some finals.

They came up abbreviated successful the Champions League, losing to Inter 7-6 connected aggregate aft a two-legged necktie packed with twists and turns, but fewer tin contradict they person been 1 of the astir amusive teams to ticker successful Europe this season.

"You [the media] tin reply this," helium said erstwhile asked if Barça are the astir entertaining squad connected the continent aft their a seventh comeback from 2 goals down this season. "For me, it's not ever fun. Sometimes I truly endure a lot. I americium blessed what we are doing. Football is simply a crippled of mistakes, truthful hopefully we tin marque these things amended and marque little mistakes."

It is those mistakes that Flick is already moving connected improving adjacent season. For each Barça's brilliance successful onslaught -- they person scored 95 goals successful their 35 league games -- they person besides shown weaknesses successful defence, conceding 36.

Mbappé converted a punishment to unfastened the scoring connected Sunday aft a mistake by Pau Cubarsí and past recovered abstraction down Barça's precocious enactment to treble Madrid's pb wrong 15 minutes.

Eric García got Barça backmost successful the game, earlier Yamal and a Raphinha brace gave them a two-goal cushion astatine half-time.

But Mbappé made a crippled of it precocious on, converting aft Vinícius Júnior had got successful behind, portion Víctor Muñoz and Mbappé some missed precocious chances for Madrid to level.

There was besides play astatine the different end, with Barça appealing for a punishment aft Aurélien Tchouaméni handled the shot and having a precocious 5th extremity ruled retired for a handball by Fermín López.

"The mentality of my squad is unbelievable," Flick continued. "It's large to spot that they person the powerfulness to travel back. It's fantastic, but this travel we started past year, it's not over.

"We person to amended a lot. Also the defence. Maybe it's amended that we're much stable. But it's not to bash with the past four. When we marque mistakes, Real person fantastic attackers, they modulation good and onslaught the abstraction down our centre-backs.

"It's not casual to support that erstwhile we marque mistakes. This is what we person to learn, to support [better]. But to beryllium honest, each 3 days a match, it's not casual to train. It's each astir recovery.

"But for now, observe this victory, that's for adjacent season. I americium blessed for this club, the fans. For them I deliberation it's truly fantastic. The ambiance present is amazing."