Flick hails Barcelona's hunger after dominant win over Sociedad

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick said he was delighted with the hunger and mentality shown by his players as they thrashed 10-man Real Sociedad 4-0 on Sunday to return to the top of the LaLiga standings.

Goals from Gerard Martin, Marc Casado, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski in a dominant display moved them into first place with 57 points from 26 games, one ahead of Atletico Madrid and three ahead of rivals Real Madrid.

Another one bites the dust. ⚽ #BarçaRealSociedad pic.twitter.com/6qn5z3JY7H

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 2, 2025

"It's the style we want to play. Our first thought is always about the offence. We want to pass always. We are attacking well, everyone is hungry to score goals," Flick told reporters.

"It's good to have this. Today we were in the right positions, it helps us a lot because we have a lot of chances to pass through the last line. We are happy, but more happy about three points than scoring many goals."

Flick also dispelled any doubts over the fitness of Gavi after the midfielder was left out of the line-up, saying: "We thought about starting with Gavi today, but yesterday he felt a little bit ill.

"He said yesterday he had a fever and we had to take care of that. It was not necessary to bring him in, so we started another player."

Halfway through the second half and minutes after Araujo had given Barcelona a 3-0 lead, Flick made a triple substitution to preserve his players for their Champions League last-16 first-leg clash with Benfica on Wednesday.

The German manager said the changes had helped Barcelona ahead of their meeting with the Portuguese side, who last played on February 26.

"There are a lot of things that helped us a lot today. The red card was one of those, but also how we played. We were very dominant after this red card and this is how we want to play," Flick said.

"Of course, the substitution was very important for us because they can rest a little bit more. This helps us a lot, but at the end, we will see.

"Benfica, they had one week to prepare for our match, so we have to be careful."