Laporta and the future of Hansi Flick: "We want him to stay as long as possible"

Joan Laporta, president of FC Barcelona, gave a brief telephone interview to 'El món a RAC1', in which he addressed several issues related to the current situation of the Blaugrana team. The club comes from signing an outstanding performance in the 2024-25 Copa del Rey final, where they beat Real Madrid with an epic 3-2 to conquer their second award of the year and keep their aspirations of achieving a historic treble more alive than ever, which seems closer and closer.

The 'culé' president, visibly excited, did not hesitate to highlight that the 2024-25 season is exceeding expectations and predicts a very positive future for the club. "Reality is exceeding expectations. They were very good, but they are better thanks to these players, to Flick, to the staff... The women's Champions League final is also very important for the club... It's worth living it," he commented.

Barcelona's success with the signing of Hansi Flick: a project that excites

'Jan' also spoke about the incorporation of Hansi Flick, highlighting the work of the sports management and his own desire for the German coach to take charge of the team. "Deco and Bojan decided that he would be the coach of Barça. I, as president, always have something to say. I liked him a lot from the beginning, he was the one I wanted to come. When the opportunity arose, I told Deco and he studied the possibilities. There were other options, but they preferred Flick. I would have said yes to any decision," he began by saying.

In turn, he showed his satisfaction with the work of the German coach and made it clear that the intention is to extend his contract as long as possible, although the coach prefers to renew year after year: "He knows that it is a new stage, that we want it to last as long as possible: he understands the club, he has great human qualities... He prefers to go year after year, he will continue next season. The sports management is already working on it," he said.

The controversy before the Copa del Rey final: Laporta asks to focus on football

The Blaugrana president also referred to the controversy that arose before the Copa del Rey final, when Real Madrid showed their discontent over refereeing statements and made decisions such as not sending representatives to the press conference, not holding the previous training session and not attending the directors' dinner. Laporta downplayed this situation, assuring that Barcelona wanted to focus solely on the game:

"I experienced it as just another strategy, but we wanted to get away from it. Our strategy was to talk about football. We knew it would be a spectacle worthy of the best game in the world. We did what we had to do and didn't enter a garden that doesn't interest us at all. We have the healthy aspiration to win in all the competitions in which we participate, the rest is part of a circus. We try to stay away from all the noise," said 'Jan'.

'Jan's' position on the refereeing in the Copa del Rey final

Likewise, the top representative of the 'culé' entity, revealed how his meeting with the president of Real Madrid, Florentino Pérez, was. In addition, he took the opportunity to express his perspectives regarding the refereeing in this commitment. "Florentino was correct, we have a relationship of mutual respect, he congratulated us. In general, I did like the refereeing. No one is ever perfect, neither the teams' play, nor the refereeing performance, but it was good," he said.

Laporta and his message of motivation to the Blaugrana squad

Finally, Laporta wanted to send a message of encouragement to the 'culé' squad, aware that they will have little rest given the load of commitments ahead: "It's what it means to be alive in all competitions. They are young and they are prepared. They are taking us where we want to go," he concluded.