He saved Barcelona in the last minutes, and Hansi Flick decided “in the heat of the moment”: “From now on…”

The Spanish champion had great emotions with Racing Santander, in the “eighths” of the Spanish Cup. The hosts had two goals disallowed, and with the score 1-0 for the Catalans, in the 90th+3rd minute, the hosts had a great opportunity to equalize and send the match into overtime.

Joan Garcia spared Barcelona the thrills of extra time

Manex Lozano got away alone with Joan Garcia, but Barcelona's first-choice goalkeeper was able to deny the goal with a spectacular save. Two minutes later, Lamine Yamal doubled the score opened by Ferran Torres (min. 66) and it ended 0-2.

Normally, Joan Garcia wasn't supposed to defend Thursday night. In the Spanish Cup, Marc-Andre ter Stegen was designated as the starter, but coach Hansi Flick decided to change him at the last moment.

Hansi Flick: “Joan Garcia is probably the best goalkeeper in the world”

After the final whistle, at the press conference, the German technician praised Joan Garcia. “He's probably the best goalkeeper in the world at the moment. He defended brilliantly tonight. His parry at the end was excellent.

He kept a clean sheet once again. Joan played because we decided to do it and it was a good decision as you can see. He might also defend in the next matches Cup, I haven't decided yet. He might play them all, it will depend on how tired he is,” Flick said.

Hansi Flick: “You don't win because of the name, but because of the attitude”

Regarding the match, the German technician pointed out: “For Racing, this was one of the most important matches in recent years. And for us. It's important to know that you don't win because of your name, you win because of your attitude.

I played a serious game. Our mindset was right. We did very well. Racing played a great game, maybe next year we'll see them in La Liga, we'd love that.”