Flick hopeful Gündogan stays at Barça after talks

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick says he has spoken with Ilkay Gündogan and that he thinks he will stay at the club despite sitting out Saturday’s LaLiga opener against Valencia.

Barça said Gündoğan didn’t travel with the squad as a “precaution” after taking a knock to his head against Monaco earlier in the week.

However, reports in the local media claimed Gündogan, who only joined from Manchester City last summer, has asked to leave before the transfer window closes this month.

“On Monday, he had a cut [on his head] and some problems with that, so we took the decision to leave him at home,” Flick said in a news conference when asked to clear up the situation after his team began the season with a 2-1 win at Mestalla.

“I spoke with him [this week], it’s true, yes. I spoke just to know how he is feeling. I know him very well. I appreciate what kind of player he is and also as a person.

“We spoke about everything. It’s not for you [to know], it’s just for us. I have the feeling that he will stay.”

Sources close to Gündogan reiterated that stance to ESPN, saying the German international intends to remain at Barça and that he missed the Valencia game after suffering headaches and dizziness in training.

Without Gündogan, a young Barça side made a winning start to the new campaign, with Robert Lewandowski scoring twice as they came from behind after Valencia had took the lead through Hugo Duro.

With Gavi and Frenkie de Jong also injured, and Pedri only fit for the bench, Flick fielded a midfield duo of Marc Bernal, 17, and Marc Casadó, 20. Defender Pau Cubarsí and winger Lamine Yamal completed a trio of 17-year-olds in the starting lineup.

“It’s not a test, it was a very important match for us,” Flick added when asked about his use of so many youngsters.

“Preseason was not so easy, with players coming back from the Euros and the Olympics, and I have to say the young players from La Masia did well in preseason and today. Six weeks we train with them and they improve a lot and they deserve today to play.

“It’s great to have these players here with this quality. We can see today what the players are doing. It’s fantastic. It helps us a lot.”

Barça started slowly in Flick’s first game in charge and fell behind to Duro’s header just before the break, but the game swung in the minutes that followed before half-time.

First, Cubarsí cleared another Duro effort off the line, with Lewandowski then converting Yamal’s pass in the sixth minute of stoppage time up the other end.

Lewandowski’s second goal of the night came via the penalty spot, after Raphinha had been fouled, to seal the three points in the 49th minute

“The second half was much better than the first half,” Flick said. “We made a lot of mistakes [in the first half] and Valencia used [the ball] really good. In the second half, we did much better.

“Today, there were a lot of things for us to do better, but it’s the beginning of season. We fight and there was a high intense match and at the end I think we deserved this three points.”