Barcelona boss Hansi Flick praises players after victory over Real Madrid

The match began with Real Madrid taking an early lead through Kylian Mbappe just five minutes in, but Barcelona responded ferociously. Lamine Yamal equalized, followed by goals from Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, and Alejandro Balde before halftime, showcasing an offensive masterclass that left Madrid reeling.

"I'm really proud," Flick stated during the post-match press conference. "Proud for the team, the staff, the club, the fans, everyone. Today was an unbelievable match. For the coaches, not so much! But for the fans, it's really fantastic."

Barcelona's resurgence was marked by a brace from Raphinha, who was also named the match's MVP. "We believe in the boss and the boss believes in us," captain Raphinha commented, underlining the team's newfound confidence. "The important thing is we can fight for titles and win them."

The game saw its share of drama in the second half when Barcelona's goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was sent off, reducing the team to ten players.

Despite this, Barcelona managed to maintain their lead. "When Wojciech was sent off, for us it wasn't easy," Flick reflected. "Inaki did fantastic, from zero to hero. But I'm very proud of how we defended, every situation, defending the goal as one team."

Flick's comments highlighted a season that had its ups and downs for Barcelona, who led La Liga earlier but faced a dip in form. "We have to learn from every match, and today's match," he noted. "We can do things better, but we have a young team. We had some weeks where we didn't perform so good, and our situation in the league now is not nice. We speak about all these things in the dressing room, but for me, it's important to focus on the next match."

This victory not only marked Flick's first trophy as Barcelona's manager but also secured their third consecutive El Clasico triumph. Despite the financial implications of not using symbols, this match was worth millions in terms of morale and momentum for Barcelona.

Real Madrid, sitting above Barcelona in La Liga, would have hoped to assert dominance, but instead, they encountered one of their worst performances against their rivals. The loss will be a hard pill to swallow, considering their historical edge in Supercopa clashes against Barcelona.

Flick concluded with a forward-looking statement, "I don't want to look back. Today is a good day, we beat one of the best teams in the world, for the second time this season, it's unbelievable, we win a title here and we're very happy. Today is a day to be positive." 

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