Soccer Football - LaLiga - Sevilla v FC Barcelona - Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Seville, Spain - February 9, 2025 FC Barcelona coach Hansi Flick after the match REUTERS/Marcelo Del Pozo
SEVILLE, Spain (Reuters) - Barcelona manager Hansi Flick said he was proud of his players' effort in Sunday’s 4-1 victory at Sevilla, praising their maturity in controlling the match and scoring a late goal despite playing over 30 minutes with 10 men.
After Fermin Lopez and Raphinha scored early in the second half to put Barca 3-1 ahead, Lopez was sent off with a straight red card after a nasty tackle on Djibril Sow in the 60th minute.
But Barca, who had opened the scoring through Robert Lewandowski, held off Sevilla and managed to score their fourth through Eric Garcia's header in the 89th minute to edge closer to the top of LaLiga.
"I value this victory so much, they were brilliant out there and showed a lot of character and guts," Flick told DAZN.
"In the first half we played well and in the second half we were doing also a good job but after the red card we had to fight. It was great to see that we did it and we got the win.
"The players showed maturity and that's fantastic. We defended well and I am happy about that. We were able to contain their players on the flanks, they are a dangerous team to play against. I think we were really good."
The win lifted third-placed Barca to 48 points, one behind Atletico Madrid in second and two off leaders Real Madrid after the capital rivals drew 1-1 on Saturday.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas; Editing by Toby Davis)
