“He said, ‘No, put Pablo Torre in’” - Hansi Flick opens up on ‘unbelievable’ gesture from Barcelona star during 7-1 win vs Valencia

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick spoke candidly about an "unbelievable" gesture from a player after the Catalans thrashed Valencia 7-1 on January 26, 2025. The win at Estadi de Montjuïc placed them within three points of second-placed Atletico Madrid with 42 points in 21 games.

Barcelona opened the scoring with just three minutes on the clock courtesy of Frenkie de Jong. It was followed by goals from Ferran Torres (8'), Raphinha (14'), and a brace from Fermin Lopez (24' and 45+4') to make it 5-0 at the halftime whistle. Robert Lewandowski (66') and Cesar Tarrega's own goal (75') made it seven for the hosts. Hugo Duro scored for Valencia in the 59th minute but it was merely a consolation in the end.

The thorough domination from the hosts even allowed players who don't feature regularly to get some game time. One of the players was Pablo Torre, who had played just 361 minutes across 11 games this season before the Valencia game. In the 78th minute, Frenkie de Jong was replaced by Pablo Torre.

After the game, Hansi Flick revealed that the decision wasn't his and that the German tactician had originally planned to bring on Gavi. However, Gavi told the coach to field Pablo Torre - a gesture that touched the former Bayern Munich boss.

After the game, Flick said (via SPORT and quoted by Barca News Network):

“The moment that impressed me the most was when I spoke with Gavi, whom I planned to bring on in the last 15 minutes. He said, ‘No, put Pablo Torre in.”

He went on to lavish praise on Gavi for his gesture, saying:

“This is unbelievable, this is really great. You can see the team and how they are connected well. As a coach, it’s fantastic to see this, and I really love Gavi for this because he normally wants to play every match, and to say that in this situation, it’s top.”

Gavi was sidelined for almost a year because of a cruciate ligament tear he suffered in November 2023. After missing 45 games for Barcelona, he finally made his comeback in September 2024.

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When Barcelona superstar Gavi talked about how his ACL injury helped him grow as a person

Real Madrid CF v FC Barcelona - La Liga EA Sports - Source: Getty

On November 20, 2023, Gavi ruptured his ACL during Spain's 3-1 win over Georgia in the Euro 2024 qualifiers. In an October 2024 interview (via GOAL), Gavi opened up about the learnings from his long-term injury and how the recovery process changed him as a person. He said:

"I've learned a lot because you value things much more now. It's a learning experience that I'll take with me for the rest of my life. This injury is one of the hardest and I've come out of it a better person and a better team-mate too."

The Spanish superstar also talked about giving himself time before putting in full shifts.

"I haven't set myself any deadline, it's about getting into the rhythm of each game, getting back to the form I had before the injury. Little by little, it's hard because in the end it's many months away, but I'm sure I'll get into the rhythm of all my team-mates," he added.

After being sidelined for over 300 days, the Spaniard returned to action in Barcelona's 5-1 win against Sevilla on October 20.