Barce Flick effusive about Gavi after teammate gesture – ‘It’s unbelievable’

Much of the conversation about what Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has changed since he arrived at the club has centred around their style of football and the improvement of a number of their players. Yet the atmosphere within the dressing room is another aspect that appears to have improved, as evidenced by an anecdote that Flick told on Sunday night following their 7-1 demolition of Valencia.

With Barcelona in cruise control and the game speeding towards a conclusion, Flick sent for Gavi to come on and replace Frenkie de Jong for the final 15 minutes. The German coach was seen on the touchline giving the 20-year-old a hug, which many presumed to mean that he was coming on. A couple of minutes later though, it was Pablo Torre that replaced the Dutchman. Flick explained the incident after the match.

“The situation that impressed me the most was when I spoke with Gavi, who I wanted to put on in the last 15 minutes, and he said: ‘No, put Pablo Torre on.’ And this is incredible, it’s great. You can see how the players are. connected with each other. It’s fantastic and for a coach it’s incredible. I love Gavi for his attitude and talking like that at that moment is fantastic,” he told the media.

Gavi has only recently returned to regular action after his injury which kept him out for little less than a year, and has begun asserting his presence on the starting XI to the detriment of Dani Olmo, who has missed several games through injury and suspension too.

His altruistic gesture allowed Torre a chance to make an impact though. The former Racing Santander midfielder has been starved of minutes this season since Gavi and de Jong returned to fitness, despite good performances when he has been on the pitch. The 21-year-old has 4 goals and 3 assists in just 373 minutes across 12 appearances.