Flick: No luck to Barcelona success this season

Hansi Flick has said there is no luck to Barcelona success this season but he knows it is trophies that matter as he prepares for Wednesday’s “final before the final” against Atlético Madrid in the Copa del Rey.

Barça and Atlético drew 4-4 in the first leg of their Copa semifinal in February and finally meet in the return game at the Metropolitano this week, with the winners facing either Real Madrid or Real Sociedad in the final on April 26.

“It’s like a final before the final,” Barça coach Flick said in a news conference on Tuesday. “They want to reach this final and it is the same with us.

“My team, the players can be proud about what they’re doing. We’re working hard and what we achieve is not luck, they earned it. This is the positive thing. They can be very proud.

“We know that until now we have not reached [anything] — OK, we won the [Spanish] Supercopa, but it’s in the past — and now we want to go to the final, but it’s not easy.

“Atlético have a great coach with [Diego] Simeone, an experienced squad, they know how they want to play. You can see in the matches before until the last second they are there. It will be a difficult match.”

Atlético’s fortunes have been markedly different to Barça’s in 2025.

They moved top of LaLiga when they beat Flick’s side in December, while they were still alive in the Champions League at the time, too.

However, since then, they have fallen nine points behind Barça, who lead LaLiga, and been knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid.

Despite the Copa now being Atlético’s best chance of silverware this season, Flick, whose Barça team are unbeaten in 20 games in 2025 and alive in three competitions still, does not believe they will pose more of a threat than previously.

“Maybe it’s the nearest title they can win, but’s the same for us,” he said. “One win and then in a final. Whereas in LaLiga there are a lot of matches to play.

“Atlético will play like they normally play, nothing different. They have their style. The intensity is always high, aggressive. This is normal. I love how they play football, also with a lot of speed in their game. I love their style, how they play.”

Flick also confirmed Raphinha is “absolutely ready” to return to action after missing Barça’s wins over Osasuna and Girona following international duty with Brazil.

Defender Pau Cubarsí is also “available to play” from the start after injuring his ankle with Spain two weeks ago.

Elsewhere, goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen returned to light training this week.

The Germany international has not featured since September, when a knee injury appeared to have ruled him out for the rest of the season.

“We will see, step by step,” Flick said of Ter Stegen’s chances of playing again in the current campaign. “We have to wait and see what happens. It’s no time to make a decision or say anything about that.

“The good news is that he’s in a good moment. Everything is going in the right direction and we are very happy he’s in this stage. We will see what happens.”