Flick hails 'sensational' Fermin after Champions League hat-trick

Hansi Flick lauded the "sensational" Fermin Lopez, who scored his first career hat-trick to help Barcelona to a thumping 6-1 win over Olympiacos in the Champions League.

Fermin scored his first two goals in the first half to get Barcelona on their way, and though Ayoub El Kaabi pulled one back with a penalty shortly after the break, Olympiacos could not mount a comeback.

Santiago Hezze's sending-off for two yellow cards opened the space for Barca, who scored again through Lamine Yamal and Marcus Rashford, who netted a brace on either side of Fermin's final goal.

He became the first Spaniard to score a hat-trick for Barcelona in the Champions League, and the youngest player (22 years, 163 days) to score more than once for them in the competition since Neymar (also a hat-trick in December 2013).

Fermin netted his treble from just 0.7 expected goals (xG) and four shots, all of which were on target, while he played more passes in the final third (29) than anyone else on the pitch.

And Flick was impressed by what he saw from the youngster, who was named Player of the Match.

"He scores, he runs, he's very complete. His performance was sensational," Flick said of Fermin.

"Three goals, the first one very important, gave us confidence. He has it all: he's dynamic, he has speed."

Barcelona scored six goals in a Champions League game for the first time since their 6-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in March 2017.

It was a statement win for Flick's side, who now turn their attention to the Clasico meeting with Real Madrid on Sunday.

"We had some problems at the beginning of the match, but we deserved the victory. Every goal and every victory is important," he added.

"The first thing is that we won, which was the important thing, and this should give us confidence for that match.

"It's a tremendous game. We don't have time to waste. We're going to bounce back."