Hansi Flick refrains from criticizing ‘obvious’ foul in surprising defeat to Barcelona.

Hansi Flick expressed his belief that there was a clear foul leading up to Girona’s decisive goal, but stated he did not wish to use it as a justification following Barcelona’s unexpected 2-1 loss at Montilivi on Monday.

Fran Beltrán netted the winner in the 86th minute after Thomas Lamar had equalized following Pau Cubarsí’s initial goal, although Barça contended that Claudio Echeverri had fouled Jules Koundé prior to the goal.

This defeat caused Barça to drop to second place in LaLiga, now two points behind the new leaders, Real Madrid.

“I don’t want to discuss that,” Flick responded when asked if he believed Beltrán’s goal should have been ruled out. “Everyone witnessed the incident before the second goal, but Girona deserved [to win]. We defended poorly, particularly during transitions; we were too exposed, and our midfield was not positioned correctly.

“[Certainly the foul] was evident, but it is what it is. For me, I might focus more on that if we had played well, but we did not perform well.

“It seems like an excuse to complain. I do not want that. We need to improve our performance. We must return to this level.”

This incident occurred just days after Barça lodged a formal complaint with the Spanish Football Federation [RFEF] and the Refereeing Committee [RFEF] regarding what they view as inconsistencies in officiating standards, following Cubarsí’s disallowed goal against Atlético Madrid last week.

Nevertheless, Flick chose not to be overly critical of the referee in this instance, even humorously noting that his players had been equally poor.

“No complaints, no excuses,” he asserted when questioned about the officiating. “They do their job. Sometimes it may not be executed well, but they performed at the same level as we did, so it might not have been a good level.”

The loss to Girona added to a challenging week for Barça after they suffered a 4-0 defeat to Atlético in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal on Thursday.

They initially took the lead at Montilivi, with Cubarsí scoring early in the second half after Lamine Yamal had missed a penalty just before halftime.

However, Girona improved after going behind in what was an engaging and open match, with Lamar equalizing almost immediately after Cubarsí’s goal and January signing Beltrán completing the comeback late in the game.

“We are not in a good moment,” Flick acknowledged. “I will give the team two days off now. It’s crucial they have time to rest.

“The players are genuinely fatigued. Perhaps with more control and fewer mistakes, it could have been a different outcome today. In the first half, we created some opportunities, including the penalty, but it happens.

“It might be fatigue, but we need to possess the desire to win matches. After losing to Atlético, it was vital to secure a win today. We did not achieve that.

“Everyone is disheartened. We will continue to fight. We have time to recover now over the next two weeks without midweek matches.

“We will train well and prepare for Sunday [against Levante at Spotify Camp Nou]. Now we must strive to reclaim the top position in the table.”