FC Barcelona Coach Flick Suffers Coughing Attack But Discusses Ter Stegen Replacement

FC Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick had his prematch press conference interrupted by a coughing fit on Tuesday afternoon in Catalonia.

Ahead of a midweek match with Getafe at the Montjuic Stadium, however, the German had time to discuss a potential replacement for injured captain Marc-Andre Ter Stegen and a Lamine Yamal that he believes is "the best".

La Liga president Javier Tebas has already confirmed that Barca can sign a new player - goalkeeper or not - to replace a Ter Stegen who suffered a knock that it is expected will keep him out for the rest of the season.

Barca has some potential candidates as per free agents, but Flick stressed that he and his staff "have to look at the options we have" while not dealing with any "pressure right now" to come to a final decision.

"We'll see what happens. We'll talk to De la Fuente, who has been training world-class goalkeepers for many years. He'll be the first person I'll talk to," Flick stressed.

As per Ter Stegen's usual stand-in Inaki Pena, Flick said that he is "doing very well" as he had been doing in preseason as well.

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"He has worked very hard to be here. He is focused and ready to play. We are confident but we also have to look at what we'll do because the players behind [us] are very young. At the moment, we do not feel pressured and we trust Inaki," Flick stated.

Flick's youngest player of course is 17-year-old Lamine Yamal, who many people are saying is the world's best in-form player at the moment given his winning Euro 2024 campaign and an astonishing start to the season which has helped Barca mount a 100% league record while topping the charts by four points over bitter rivals Real Madrid.

Flick would seem to agree, saying that "quality is not related to age".

"He is doing incredible things. He is the best," Flick said.

This aside, Flick doesn't believe that Lamine needs to sit one out, though, perhaps starting with the Getafe meeting.

"We have all the data on the players and right now he doesn't need to rest. He's doing very well. We'll look at him, but I don't think he needs to rest. We're playing at home, we have to start with a good team on the pitch and what Lamine has done is incredible. The other players are also doing very well," Flick insisted.