The feeling of vertigo was palpable in the Metropolitano, four goals conceded in the first half, their worst defeat against Atlético in 86 years, mortality staring the Blaugrana players in the face. It is not the first time that Barcelona has been defeated, nor the first time that its top line has been exposed, but this time they feared for their own safety and the thunderous Metropolitano gorged on it.
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Four days later, in Montilivi, Barcelona had to react. Hansi Flick, quite stormy after Atlético’s armageddon, was supposed to intimidate his players into returning to their usual mentality. Girona didn’t inflict that much damage, and it was a controversial, late winner by Fran Beltrán that probably pushed us into this broader existential examination of Flick’s approach. However, looking back at the match itself, Barcelona’s defense was defeated in the same way, with a frequency not far removed from what happened four days earlier.
Image via Judit Cartiel/Getty Images
What last season’s analyzes often omitted was that Barcelona’s approach was a calculated risk. Compared to this stage of last season in La Liga, Barcelona has seven more points, has scored one less goal (64) and has also conceded one less (24). The numbers aren’t dramatic, but no evaluation of a team in El Clásico really makes sense without the actual point from which the measuring stick is placed; in this case an improved Real Madrid, at least numerically.
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Last season, Flick was able to observe his team and conclude that his team had an ability to score goals that very few, especially in Spain, could live up to. Taking sketches from Xavi Hernández, he designed the plan for the most effective use of Raphinha. If his pressing was constant and his ability to drop into midfield was intermittent, Robert Lewandowski’s predatory instincts were beyond doubt. Lamine Yamal was the link. He could either get the ball to them or make sure enough SWAT equipment had been sent to stop him and there was enough space for someone else to do it.
That combination allowed Flick to bet on his defensive line being beaten four or five times a game, and once or twice, conceding. The tradeoff was that his team would have five or six chances, and with those three in space, Flick could feel comfortable telling the dealer to spin until he got the cards he wanted.
Although Barcelona’s overall numbers do not differ much, the three forwards tell a story that is more similar to the gusts to which they subject their rivals, unlike last season’s hurricane. At the same time, Diario AS points out that his trio of forwards scored 68 goals and provided 37 assists, compared to 41 goals and 21 assists this season. Between Raphinha’s injuries and Lewandowski’s soft bench, his minutes have dropped by 50%. The Polish veteran has been up and down in Barcelona before, putting up good numbers to sustain him through a mixed vision test. This season, his teammates barely look for Lewandowski in the box, a sign that Flick’s loss of faith is based on an internal team consensus.
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Beyond their absences, the two most obvious changes are Íñigo Martínez and Pedri. The Basque defender has been replaced for the most part by Eric García, who despite Barcelona’s defensive problems stands out as one of their best players this season. Whether due to the lack of Martínez or a natural decline after 18 excellent months, Pau Cubarsi has not looked the same at his side. As an association, not only do they have a decade less experience, but García and Cubarsi are too homogeneous, they were raised with the same teaching and see the same solutions.
Just as Martínez provided a natural counterweight to Cubarsi, Pedri is the nuance of Barcelona’s aggressive style. Frenkie de Jong thinks vertically, Dani Olmo thrived in the counter-attacking paradise of the Bundesliga, and in football two decades earlier, Fermín López would probably have found himself playing in a front two against a number nine, for which Lewandowski is a better foil than Ferran Torres. By creating time in the center of the field, understanding the flow of the game, Pedri makes the chaos that Flick wants to cause intentional. English has yet to really find a way to synthesize what Pedri has beyond borrowing ‘pause’ from Spanish. This year he has missed 13 games, missing only one last year at this point.
Image via ASSOCIATED PRESS AP Agency
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Before those consecutive defeats, Barcelona were on a run of 15 wins in 16, and with Pedri and Raphinha returning to form, there is reason for Flick to believe he can still write them off as a blip. Montilivi was the first time Barcelona lost this season with Raphinha in the starting lineup. Two free weeks and home games against 19th-place Levante and Villarreal, who have yet to claim a point in the top three, are optimal conditions for Flick to undergo a full medical examination.
The big concern is that a report emerged on Friday night after Atletico’s defeat which claimed the players had discussed changing their approach with Flick, reducing the risks taken when Pedri and Raphinha were unavailable. Against Girona, Barcelona’s line was as high as in Madrid, higher than it has been for much of the season, a clear indication of Flick’s opinion on that idea.
If Flick’s players are starting to doubt his idea and feel as exposed and vulnerable as they claimed last season, then the crisis is real. The margin of doubt in the fine-line game that Flick seeks is non-existent, and his clashes against Girona and Atlético were a visual manifestation of that doubt. No matter the system or approach, any coach finds himself in dangerous territory if his players question his instructions, but in the context of how Barcelona plays, failures not only erode trust, but also destroy big chunks.
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With the aforementioned changes, the tightrope is even thinner. Even if Barcelona can find the missing symbiosis between their press and their offside trap, Flick is working on the same calculated risk, but the equation has changed. Since he does not seem willing to consider changing the formula, Flick must find a way to reduce the variables, because for the first time since he arrived in Barcelona, answers are required internally.