Flick: We want to play in the Champions League final in Madrid, but there's still a long way to go

On November 3 (CET), in the fourth round of the UEFA Champions League league phase, Barcelona beat Aston Villa 3-0 at home. After the match, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick spoke to the media about the team's defense, João Cancelo's performance, and their Champions League goals.

Hansi, congratulations. That was a very good game. What did you like most about your team's performance tonight?

The clean sheet. I'm very happy about that because Aston Villa's attack is really good, and we defended very well. Our shape was very compact, and everyone took part in the defending, which is the most important thing when you defend.

How important was it to score early? Was your high press a tactical decision? Did you know they would try to build from the back like that?

No, that's our philosophy, and that's how we want to play. We try to press them high and force them into mistakes. At that moment, we were in the right positions, and our press was very good. They made a mistake, and we took the opportunity.

People often talk about the goalscorers in your team, but the best pass tonight must have been João Cancelo's for that goal.

Of course, João. The third goal, the way he delivered that assist, was incredible. He's very important for us, a very good player, and we're happy to have him.

Barcelona last won the Champions League in 2015. How high a priority is this competition for the club this year?

For a club like Barcelona, we always have to fight for the important titles. This is a big goal for us, and we will work hard for it. We want to win La Liga, but it's not easy because La Liga has very good teams, and four or five of them are at a very high level. The Champions League is the same. There are many, many clubs that can win this competition. But we hope to get to Madrid for the final in the end, though there is still a long, long way to go.

Congratulations on winning a very important match. I think it's interesting that Aston Villa made their first mistake in the 7th minute, and Yamal scored from it. I think that was important for the rest of the game.

Of course, scoring early is important. We did that, and in that attack our press was also very good. That's something we wanted to do in our game plan. We took the opportunity immediately, and that helped us a lot in this match.

I think João Cancelo also performed very, very well in the first half, when Aston Villa had chances to score.

Yes, of course. We know that in the Champions League you always face top opponents, and the quality of the matches is very high. So for us, keeping a clean sheet today and getting these important three points was also important.

I think the second half was completely under your control, with Raphinha scoring two goals, and the game was decided then.

Yes, of course. That's usually what we want to do. We control the game, and when we get chances, we are able to take them. I'm very happy and very proud of my team because today we played at a very high level. In the Champions League, that is very important.

Also, you kept a clean sheet this time. I'm not entirely sure, but it's probably the first time in about 18 matches, which is also important.

Sorry, I don't understand.

You didn't concede. This is the first time you haven't conceded in 18 Champions League matches.

Oh, in the Champions League. Yes, I… you know, I don't care about these statistics. What's important is winning, and now we have nine points, which looks good.