Barça: Hansi Flick still faces a huge obstacle!

According to Catalunya Ràdio, Flick is struggling to master Spanish and relies on Arnau Blanco to communicate

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Barça: Hansi Flick still faces a huge obstacle!

Hansi Flick faces a persistent difficulty at Barça: Spanish. According to Catalunya Ràdio, learning the language remains complicated for him, despite his long-term presence on the Catalan bench.

Language remains an obstacle for Hansi Flick. As he begins his third season at FC Barcelona, the German coach is still reportedly struggling to express himself in Spanish, according to Catalunya Ràdio’s Barça reservat programme, broadcast on Thursday, October 29.

A learning process that would frustrate him

The 61-year-old coach reportedly attributes his difficulties in particular to his age, the Catalan radio station reports. He is still trying to communicate in Spanish with certain players during training, but without the fluency needed to comfortably develop his ideas.

The radio station mentions frustration, and one of the contributors believes that Flick may have partially given up on learning the language.

🚨 Hansi Flick 🇩🇪 N’ARRIVE PAS À APPRENDRE L’ESPAGNOL, DEUX ANS ET DEMI APRÈS SON ARRIVÉE AU FC BARCELONE ! 😳 L’entraîneur allemand, âgé de 61 ans, attribuerait notamment ses difficultés à SON ÂGE. Cette situation serait une SOURCE DE FRUSTRATION pour lui, au point qu’il aurait presque RENONCÉ À MAÎTRISER LA LANGUE. Son adjoint Arnau Blanco joue aujourd’hui un rôle d’INTERPRÈTE auprès des joueurs. 🗞️ Catalunya Ràdio
— Actu Foot (@ActuFoot_) October 29, 2026

Arnau Blanco as a link with the players

To convey his instructions, Flick would rely particularly on Arnau Blanco, described by Catalunya Ràdio as an interpreter within the squad. The assistant coach understands the manager’s expectations and helps communicate them to the players.

Blanco joined the first-team staff on August 16, 2024, after coaching Barça’s U16s. The club then highlighted his eleven seasons working in the Catalan academy, a background that gives him an in-depth knowledge of the club.

Caution shared by the club

According to the same programme, Barcelona would not be pushing Flick to change languages at press conferences. With an estimated 100 to 120 media appointments per season, the club would prefer to limit misunderstandings arising from imprecise wording.

This difficulty has not prevented the former Bayern Munich coach from establishing himself for the long term. Having arrived in the summer of 2024, Flick has won the last two editions of La Liga. He is now tied to Barça until June 2028, following an extension prepared in the spring.

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