Barcelona manager Hansi Flick insists he and his coaching staff did nothing untoward after he appeared to clash with Carlo Ancelotti during Barcelona’s 4-0 win over Real Madrid.
Robert Lewandowski scored twice and Lamine Yamal added a third goal to ruin Kylian Mbappe’s first Clasico as Barcelona romped to a historic victory at the Bernabeu.
Lewandowski scored from a superb pass by Barcelona’s latest youth talent Marc Casado in the 54th minute and headed in a second goal three minutes later to silence the home fans.
Yamal made it a rout in the 77th minute when the teenage phenom rifled a shot from an angle over goalkeeper Andriy Lunin and Raphinha got involved in the party when he broke free with Madrid pressing forward and chipped Lunin six minutes from the end.
Tempers appeared to boil over on the touchline in the aftermath of the former Leeds winger’s goal with Ancelotti caught wagging his finger in the face of his opposite number.
Asked about the spat afterwards, Flick said: ‘I haven’t seen it. I’ve spoken to him, but it’s a normal situation. We celebrated the goal. We’re adults enough to talk about this.’
Ancelotti, meanwhile, confirmed his ire was intended for one of Flick’s assistant and said: “I didn’t argue with Hansi Flick, I got angry with one of his staff. He made gestures towards our bench, he didn’t act like a gentleman.’
The night, however, belonged to Flick who has masterminded an incredible transformation at Barcelona, capped by Saturday night’s win which ended Real’s 42-game unbeaten run.
‘We started very well. In the first half, we did well,’ said Flick. ‘The defence was high up. It seems dangerous and risky, but it isn’t. It worked.
‘In the end, we made the right changes at half-time. The players did very well. The players showed their quality in front of goal.
‘Everyone knew what to do, in defence and in attack. I always say that we like to improve. Today wasn’t easy, but we defended well. We believe in our idea. But we have to keep going.’
For Ancelotti, meanwhile, defeat represented a painful experience that will take some time to get over.
He said: ‘It was very evenly match until they scored the first goal. We wre not that efficient, we had opportunities in the first half,’ Ancelotti said.
‘They scored two very quick goals and that took the energy out of us.
‘We took some gambles defensively and they took advantage of that.
‘It is a hard moment. I thank the fans because they kept pushing us until the last moment of the match.
‘We need to forget the last 30 minutes because we wanted to get back into the game and they took advantage of that.
‘Of course we are behind in the table but there are many games to be played. We cannot through everything to the trash.
‘This team will improve.’