Barcelona’s Flick tells players to enjoy Copa del Rey final

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick wants his young team to enjoy Saturday’s Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid and forget their two Clásico wins already this season.

Barça won 4-0 when the two teams met in LaLiga at the Bernabéu in October and 5-2 in the Spanish Supercopa final in Saudi Arabia in January.

The teams meet for a third time in the cup final at La Cartuja in Seville this weekend, with Madrid then heading to LaLiga leaders Barça two weeks later on May 11.

“We have to enjoy it,” Flick said in a news conference when asked if recent results gave Barça the upper hand going into Saturday’s Clásico showdown.

“We have a really young team. This is a great experience, playing this final, against one of the best teams in the world.

“A final is different. It’s not about favourites. We want to start the match well tomorrow and we want to fight for this title.” Victory for Barça would keep them on track for a treble, with a Champions League semifinal against Inter Milan to come and a four-point lead over Madrid at the top of LaLiga.

“We started a journey at the beginning of the season and we want to fight for every title we can win,” Flick added.

“We have the opportunity to win three titles and this is our goal. But we know it’s difficult because we play against Real Madrid and they have a fantastic team.”

Goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen returns to the squad after seven months out with a knee injury, but Barça are without left-back Alejandro Balde and striker Robert Lewandowski, who both have hamstring injuries.

Lewandowski’s place will be taken by Ferran Torres, who is the joint top scorer in this season’s Copa with five goals.

Teenagers Pau Cubarsí and Lamine Yamal are both also expected to start, with other youngsters from the academy, including Gavi, Fermín López and Hector Fort, also pushing for a place in Flick’s team.

Defender Ronald Araújo has been stunned by how calm they have all been in the build up to what will be their first Copa del Rey final.

“I am surprised by how incredible their mentality is,” Araújo said. “It’s as if we are not playing a final tomorrow, they are so calm.

“These kids from La Masia … It’s surprised me a lot. Not just Cubarsi, Lamine, Fermin, but also Fort, all of them. They’re incredible. They have no fear.”

Barça’s position at this stage of the season is at odds with the uncertainty which surrounded the club last summer, when Xavi Hernández was sacked and replaced by Flick.

“Of course not,” Araújo added when asked if he had expected to still be in the hunt for three trophies at the end of April when the campaign began. “When you start a season, you always aim for everything, especially at Barça, but at the start of the year, I didn’t expect to maybe be in a position to win everything.

“So I am really happy, this team deserves it — the fans and the club. They have been through a lot in recent years.”