BARCELONA, Spain – Barcelona coach Hansi Flick confirmed he has replaced losing players with “huge” fines in case they are late on match days.
Raphinha and Marcus Rashford were among the high-profile names left on the bench earlier this season as Flick stuck to a strict punctuality policy.
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However, after speaking with the team captains, he decided to change a sporting punishment for a financial sanction.
“For me, it was always stressful when I looked at my watch and there were maybe 60 or 45 seconds left and [a player]wasn't there,” he said at a news conference Friday.
“I was always thinking, 'Are they coming?' so i decided [to change it] and I spoke with the captains.
“This situation was not always easy. I don't like this pressure either, because it is also pressure for me, because no matter who, I had to say that he will not play.”
Raphinha was benched against Valencia in September and Rashford against Getafe a week later, following high-profile cases last season involving Jules Koundé and Iñaki Peña.
Flick says that the application of a fine, which according to first team players Pedri and Ferran Torres is around 40,000 euros, has so far had the desired effect
“The fine is huge and so far no one has been even a second late, so I think it was the right decision,” added the German coach.
Flick was speaking ahead of Barça's LaLiga match against Villarreal on Spotify Camp Nou on Saturday, when he will mark 100 games in charge of the Spanish champions.
In 99 games so far, he has recorded 74 wins, the second most of any Barça coach at this point after Luis Enrique, but he says that will mean nothing if the season does not end with more titles.
“Of course it is a great honor to reach this number,” he said. “It was a dream to coach this club, so to have 100 games is incredible.
“But I never look at the numbers. For me, the important thing is the number at the end of the season. When we are first [in the table]It's perfect.”
Barca can temporarily move four points clear at the top of LaLiga with a win over Villarreal, while second-placed Real Madrid will not be in action until Monday when they host Getafe.
Flick will be without Frenkie de Jong this weekend, who has been ruled out for six weeks with a hamstring injury, but Pedri is pushing for a start after returning as a substitute in last weekend's win over Levante.
