Los Blancos were beaten 1-0 at relegation-battling Espanyol on Saturday and subsequently sent a furious letter to the Spanish football federation blasting the country's refereeing as "rigged" and "completely discredited".

Barcelona need to maintain their focus till the end of games to ensure they stop dropping points in matches they should have won, coach Hansi Flick said on Saturday, after his team slipped to third in LaLiga due to a four-match winless streak.

Barcelona were 4-2 down towards the end of the match before goals from Robert Lewandowski, Eric Garcia and Raphinha secured their comeback.

Raphinha struck a dramatic winner in stoppage time as Barcelona came from behind to beat Benfica 5-4 in a wild match on Tuesday and virtually ensure direct qualification to the Champions League last 16.

The Catalan giants have won just one of their last eight league games, falling behind rivals Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, but by contrast are flying high in Europe.

Last season, around this time, there was a surprise package in Girona in the top three of LaLiga. However, a year later, the Spanish league has returned to the status quo, with Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid -- the three giants of Spain -- occupying the top three spots on the table at the end of 2024.

Manager Hansi Flick expressed frustration over Barcelona's struggle to acquire new players' licences for Dani Olmo and Pau Victor but remained optimistic ahead of their Copa del Rey match against Barbastro, praising the duo's attitude.

Barca have now gone three games without a LaLiga win having picked up five points out of a possible 21, suffering defeats by Leganes and Las Palmas in their previous two home games. They are three points behind Atletico having played a game more.

Diego Simeone's red-hot Atletico are one of the most in-form teams in Europe on an 11-game winning streak in all competitions and looking like a well-oiled machine with Antoine Griezmann, Julian Alvarez and Rodrigo de Paul firing on all cylinders.

 Barcelona's young team can learn from the setbacks they have faced in their LaLiga campaign and continue to improve, manager Hansi Flick said on Tuesday ahead of their Champions League meeting with Borussia Dortmund.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick on Friday said teenage winger Lamine Yamal will return after three weeks out with injury for this weekend's game against Las Palmas in La Liga.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said Friday he would ask his players if they can win without injured teenage winger Lamine Yamal.

Flick's tactical approach, featuring an extremely high defensive line, also seemed ripe for Mbappe and Vinicius to pillage with their pace.

The Catalan giants triumphed at the Santiago Bernabeu to snap Madrid's run of 42 matches unbeaten and continue their own revival under the German coach who arrived this summer.

When Flick was coach of Bayern they thrashed Barcelona 8-2 in the 2020 Champions League quarter-finals.

The 36-year-old hitman looks far sharper than last season and has 12 goals in 11 games across all competitions.

The Catalans won all seven of their opening fixtures but Flick's heavily rotated side came badly undone in Pamplona as Ante Budimir scored a brace either side of Bryan Zaragoza's strike.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick backed reserve goalkeeper Inaki Pena to replace stricken team-mate Marc-Andre ter Stegen on Tuesday, but also said the club must discuss if they will sign a replacement.

Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen will have surgery on a ruptured knee tendon, the Catalan club said Monday, with the club's captain potentially sidelined for the rest of the season.

Yamal, who grabbed the spotlight as he helped Spain win their fourth European Championship title in July, scored twice in the first half before Dani Olmo and Pedri secured the win with Flick's side maintaining their unbeaten start to the league season.