Hansi Flick has told his Barcelona players that partying after their La Liga title celebrations is no excuse for letting their performances drop.
Barca clinched the league title on Thursday with a two-goal victory at Espanyol, ensuring they were an insurmountable seven points clear of second-place Real Madrid with two rounds of matches remaining.
The confirmation sparked celebrations with an open-top bus parade held through the Catalan city’s streets on Friday.
Flick’s side host Villarreal on Sunday before concluding their campaign at Athletic Club in Bilbao the following week.
Barca’s open-top bus parade took place on Friday evening (David Ramos/Getty Images)
“We haven’t lost in 2025 and we want to keep it that way,” Flick said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday.
“Rotate against Villarreal? We’ll make changes, but I’ll decide tomorrow how we’ll do it. Yesterday was a day of celebration and rest.
“Many players went out partying, but those who can go out partying can play, it’s not an excuse. I want to finish the season the way we started it.”
Flick was then asked if he would consider fielding a team entirely comprised of youth-team graduates from the club’s La Masia system.
“To be honest, we’ve discussed it internally, but we haven’t decided,” the Barca head coach said.
“It’s possible. But we’ll wait until tomorrow to see how the team is doing.”
Barca regain the title following Madrid’s success in the 2023-24 campaign, with this season just the second title for the Catalan club since 2019.
(Top image: David Ramos/Getty Images)