Coach Flick wants Barcelona title party repeat ‘every year’

After enjoying Barcelona’s La Liga title celebrations Hansi Flick said on Saturday he would love to repeat them every season.

The German coach led the Catalan giants to a domestic treble in his first year at the club, beating Espanyol on Thursday to add La Liga to Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup triumphs.

An estimated 670,000 fans hit the streets to celebrate as the team cruised towards the city’s Arc de Triomf monument on an open-top bus on Friday, revelling in the club’s 28th Spanish title.

“When you see in the faces of the people, the passion for this club, for this amazing club and how they celebrate this, it’s really good to see,” Flick told a news conference Saturday.

“Of course, (if) we have this every year it’s not bad — so we go for this, we work hard on this in the next years.

“It’s not easy but when we work hard, we stay focussed, maybe we can do it next year -- and it’s unbelievable how many people are on the street.”

Flick has a contract until 2026, but will extend his deal in the coming days according to Barca vice-president Rafa Yuste.

Barcelona face Villarreal on Sunday in La Liga and Flick said that while he would rotate, players who had been out partying on Friday night may still be selected.

“We have to make some changes but we won’t (decide) until tomorrow... I think yesterday evening they went out to have a little bit of a party.

“I always say ‘Who can party, also can work’, they can play, so for me it’s not an excuse.”

Villarreal are still looking to seal Champions League qualification next season, but Flick wants his team to stay unbeaten in the top flight in 2025.

“We want to celebrate with our fans in the stadium and we want to end this season (feeling like) champions,” added Flick.

Agence France-Presse