“I will never forget this day, ever.” Hansi Flick is tossed into the air by his players after winning La Liga, just hours after learning of his father’s death.
Photograph: Albert Gea/Reuters
After learning of his father’s passing on the morning of the clásico, the manager watched his players respond with devotion that underscored the culture he has built.
Early on Sunday morning, Hansi Flick received a call from his mother telling him that his father had died overnight. Hansi Sr. was 82 and had been ill for some time. The day Barcelona would reclaim the league title—the first clásico back at Camp Nou—had just begun, and their coach was uncertain how to proceed, yet he also knew what he had to do. “I [thought]: ‘should I hide it or should I speak with my team, because for me it is like a family?’,” he said. “I said ‘OK, I want to get the information to my players, and what they did is unbelievable. I will never forget this moment.’”
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None of them would forget. Barcelona’s players arrived at the Torre Melina hotel on the Diagonal at midday, where the man many of them consider a father told them about his. Now it was close to midnight, and together they celebrated a title that was also his. For the first time in 94 years, the clásico decided La Liga—if “decided” is truly the word when it was effectively wrapped up a while ago. Barcelona’s superiority in the 2-0 victory that finally sealed it was incontestable, just as it had been virtually all season. Real Madrid’s players retreated swiftly, relieved that it was finally over, leaving the stadium to them as the first round of fireworks exploded into the sky and a sardana formed in the centre circle.
A stage was set up, and three people headed onto the pitch with giant letters spelling CHAMPIONS. The presidents of the league and the Federation arrived, the trophy was handed out on the night it was actually won—which is unusual in a competition where such ceremonies are often delayed. There were brief speeches: “Bona nit, culers,” Flick began, before continuing in English. Ronald Araújo led a lap of honour. Pau Cubarsí took the megaphone—“Well, no one else wanted to”—Raphinha took the drum, and Marc Casadó took a giant Catalan flag. They gave Flick the bumps, throwing him into the air.
Mostly, though, they held him close.
This was already Flick’s league, and the way it ended made it even more so—a symbolism to it all, in what he had handled and what it all meant. In the contrast to the rivals they had just defeated, certainly. He arrived in summer 2024, a time of economic weakness. It was bold, a risk too, but if anyone does bold risks well, it’s Joan Laporta.
Dani Olmo was unable to be registered, but Flick embraced it all, bringing fun and enthusiasm to Barcelona’s football, along with an identity and intensity. They won the league, so much better than the rest, but the coach suspected the second year would be harder, and the way 2025-26 began suggested he was right. “At the start we went through a moment we didn’t want to,” Raphinha admitted.
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Barcelona celebrate winning La Liga title after beating Real Madrid – video
Barcelona were a young team, with an average age of 24.25—the youngest in the league, led by a teenager who might already be the best, with all the pressure and personality shifts that can bring. Lamine Yamal might have been happy to perform his own coronation back then, but he was also starting to see how heavy the head is that wears the crown. At the end of their 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano in August—a night when the home side had identified and attacked what their manager, Iñigo Pérez, called Th
