Barcelona suffered a surprising defeat at the hands of their guests, Las Palmas, in the match that brought the two teams together on Saturday evening, as part of the fifteenth round of the Spanish League, at the Olympic Stadium of Luis Companys.
In light of the result, the league lead is now under threat of being lost from Barcelona’s hands, as the gap remains at 4 points with the runner-up, Real Madrid, who have played two fewer matches. As a result, the Blaugrana’s points total stands at 34.
According to information from the Catalan newspaper “Sport,” the shocking defeat to Las Palmas and the impending loss of the lead cast a shadow over the Catalan team and ignited Laporta’s unprecedented anger.
The newspaper added that Laporta does not hold anyone responsible for the successive stumbles in La Liga except for the German coach, insisting that the situation must be corrected, or Laporta will not wait long, as he did previously with Xavi.
The newspaper also reported that Laporta became enraged at the German coach after the match ended in the locker room, warning him against including goalkeeper Inaki Pena and player Frenkie de Jong in any upcoming matches.
Laporta is upset with the level of the Spanish goalkeeper and wants to remove him from the starting lineup, as well as the Dutch player, for whom Laporta has made a final decision not to renew his contract and allow him to leave for free.
The newspaper noted that Flick attempted to calm Laporta’s anger by pointing to the absence of the influential Marc Casado in the midfield, which left Gavi unable to fill the gap. Casado was replaced at halftime of the match. However, Laporta does not accept this justification and insists that the coach is fully responsible for the result.
Laporta’s anger did not stop there. He continued to criticize the German coach for not substituting Polish star Robert Lewandowski, despite his poor performance in the match.
The newspaper revealed that Laporta made an urgent request to Flick to give Polish international goalkeeper Szczesny a chance to start, excluding Peña from upcoming matches, saying: “Any shot that scores a goal in his own net, it’s time for Szczesny.”
The newspaper added that Flick defended himself, holding Laporta and Barcelona’s management accountable for the failure that night and any future setbacks due to the team not being strengthened with strong signings. Flick also demanded that Laporta sell De Jong, Fort, and Gerard Martin, and sign top-level right and left backs, as well as offloading Ferran Torres and signing a world-class winger.
Flick has ruled out competing for titles with a team that includes Ferran Torres and Joel Koundé, who is playing out of position. In addition, Flick rebuked Gavi for the disastrous performance he delivered against Las Palmas that evening.