Flick lauds Barcelona's hunger and mentality after Sociedad thrashing

Hansi Flick expressed his delight at Barcelona's hunger and mentality as they went top of LaLiga with a 4-0 thrashing of 10-man Real Sociedad on Sunday. 

Barcelona's win was made easier when Aritz Elustondo was handed his marching orders just 17 minutes into the contest after pulling back Dani Olmo when through on goal.

Gerard Martin and Marc Casado scored their first goals for the club in the first half, before Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski sealed the win after the break.

Indeed, Barcelona have now won 26 of their last 27 home games against Sociedad in LaLiga (L1), with 21 of those 22 home games in the competition coming in the 21st century, more than against any other opponent since then. 

And Flick's side were worthy of their win, registering an expected goals (xG) total of 2.92 from their staggering 33 attempts shots at Alex Remiro's goal, but they remained resolute in their defending too. 

They were able to shutout their opponents, who failed to register a shot. Indeed, Sociedad became only the second team in the Opta era (since at least the 2003-04 season) to achieve that feat in a LaLiga game. 

In fact, they are the team to go without a shot and have had the fewest touches in the opposite box in at least the last 15 years in a game in the competition (one).

"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 said. 

"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 was also on hand to rubbish rumours about the fitness of Gavi, after the midfielder was left out of the line-up at the Camp Nou on Sunday. 

"We thought about starting with Gavi today, but yesterday he felt a little bit ill," Flick confirmed. 

"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."

With Barcelona three goals to the good, Flick used their advantage to make a triple substitution ahead of their Champions League clash with Benfica on Wednesday.

Pau Cubarsi, Raphinha and Pedri were all replaced just before the hour, with the Barcelona head coach saying resting those players will help their chances next week. 

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