Hansi Flick backs Lamine Yamal for the Ballon d’Or and hails Raphinha’s intensity

Barcelona boss Hansi Flick was a happy man after Wednesday’s 5-1 win over Feyenoord in the Champions League at Camp Nou.

The German coach saw his team score five times once again and was happy to speak about his goalscorers, giving his backing to Lamine Yamal for the 2026 Ballon d’Or.

“He’s my player, of course I believe that. He deserves to win the Ballon d’Or. He’s an exceptional, special player. Anyone who watches his matches knows he deserves it,” he told reporters.

Flick also hailed Raphinha’s intensity after seeing the Brazilian bag another brace and maintain his incredible start to the campaign.

“In every situation we can control things. With Raphinha, his intensity is great; when he attacks from deep and picks up that pass from Pedri, he’s great. [Dani] Olmo played in the same position tonight but adds control in the right moment. Lamine [Yamal’s] free-kick was a good situation,” he added.

Flick has overseen a perfect start to the season and is happy with his players but, as always, insists there is still room for improvement.

“The training sessions have been of very high quality. The one we had after the Valencia game (0-5) was the best of the year. I said so just yesterday. It’s good to see that we’re making changes and the team is maintaining its level. That’s good news for us,” he explained.

“I like what I see, but I also see situations we need to improve. The most important thing, as I say, is training. Because that’s where you improve. Then, you get to the matches, you analyze them, and you try to do even better.”