Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has on Saturday made known his appreciation for the managerial talents of Real Madrid counterpart José Mourinho.
This of course comes ahead of the upcoming touchline showdown between the pair.
The season’s first edition of El Clásico is set to play out on Sunday evening, when Barcelona welcome Real Madrid to the Spotify Camp Nou for a La Liga clash.
The buildup to the fixture has been dominated by media chatter surrounding the ongoing fallout between the two clubs, regarding the infamous ‘Negreira Case’.
As alluded to above, though, during his pre-match press conference on Saturday, Hansi Flick was keen to introduce some seldom-seen positivity to the discussion.
Drawn on the name of Real Madrid counterpart Mourinho, Barca’s headmaster made use of the opportunity to heap praise on the Portuguese:
“José Mourinho has shown his ability at every club he’s coached.
“I remember meeting him once in Madrid, when I was Joachim Löw’s assistant with the Germany.
“We went to visit him because some of our players were there. What I can say is that all the players who had worked under him spoke of him with tremendous respect, and I share that same opinion.
“He’s a colleague who has had tremendous success and a great coach whom I respect enormously.”
Conor Laird – GSFN
