Hansi Flick believes that the victory of Copa del Rey of Barcelona has given his team motivation for their Champions League semi-final first leg against Inter on Wednesday.
Barcelona focused Rivals Real Madrid in the showpiece 3-2 on Saturday, with the 116th minute winner of Joules Kounde who sealed the 32nd Copa del Rey title of the club.
But Flick's attention is already on this week's collision in the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Company against an injured inter side that have seen their own high triple dreams crushed.
The Simone Inzaghi team was beaten in the semi-final of Coppa Italia by AC Milan before he lost to Roma on Sunday 1-0 to fall under Napoli to the second in the Serie A table.
And although Barcelona is still at a peak of the euphoria of their Copa del Rey victory, Flick insisted that he did not have to curb the emotions of the players.
“No, what I can see is that everyone concentrates on this competition, that everyone knows how important it is to go to the Champions League final,” Flick told reporters.
“This victory against Real is also very important for the positive vibes, and you could also push it. We know that we have to work hard to reach the final.
“It's a dream for everyone to be here. We must stay focused.
“Inter has a team where some players are at an age where it might be the last chance to reach a final, and they will give 100%.”
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After going against Carlo Ancelotti's side at the weekend, Flick added that he waited to see how his players respond in training before he decided about his team.
“We will see tomorrow. Today is not the day to talk about the start 11. Tomorrow we will see what is happening and how they recover,” said Flick.
“Also, Inter played on Sunday, and they have fewer hours of recovery, but it is a semi -final of the Champions League and everyone wants to give 100%.”
Flick added that goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny will remain his starting number one in the Champions League despite the long-awaited return of Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Barcelona is unbeaten in their six home games against Inter in the Champions League (W5 D1).
Those five victories over Thuisgras against them are their joint against an opponent in the Champions League / European Cup (also five V AC Milan).
The Flick team also won all six of their home games this season and scored 21 goals. Only in 1999-00 did they score for their own supporters in a single European Cup / Champions League campaign (29 in eight games).
But even though he preferred history in this fixture, Flick insisted that he would not be blinded by the poor recent form of Inter, with the Italians on a three-match loss of Run in all competitions for the first time since December 2017.
“The Champions League is also a big chance to win a title for Inter. They are two games away from the final, the same as we,” Flick added.
“It doesn't matter to the matches in the past. I don't think about that because it's not my job, I am aimed at my team.”