If Flick makes Barcelona boring, they will become invincible

Barcelona won La Liga after a 2-0 win at Espanyol in round 36.

Flick was not joking. Barcelona officially won the 2024/25 La Liga championship after a 2-0 victory at Espanyol's stadium in the early morning of May 16, in a match where they clearly demonstrated their pragmatism and solidity in defense.

Flick's ambition

A few days earlier, Barcelona had completed a run of four top-flight matches in 15 days, arguably the most dramatic, unpredictable and exciting run in club football history.

The run included the Copa del Rey final, two legs of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, two thrilling extra-times and a total of 25 goals, many of them breathtaking.

Matches took place in Seville, Barcelona and Milan, attracting hundreds of millions of global viewers, with the highlight being the brilliance of young talent Lamine Yamal, and winning two Copa del Rey and La Liga titles.

However, coach Hansi Flick is determined to end this explosive attacking style of play, prioritizing pragmatism to turn Barcelona into an unbeatable machine.

Flick, who has been in charge since last summer, has expressed his displeasure with the aspect that has captivated neutral fans. “Only you can decide whether we are the most exciting team in Europe,” he said. “For me, it is not always fun.”

"I sometimes feel a lot of stress. The journey this season is not over, but we need to improve a lot in defense. The coaching staff, the players and I all understand the importance of defending better. Not only the defense, the whole team needs more stability. We make mistakes, but we have to learn and improve," Flick said after the win over Real Madrid in round 35. He pledged: "Next season will be different."

Less than three days after Flick's statement, Barca played a pragmatic match against Espanyol, where they needed a win away from home to clinch La Liga with two games to spare.

Barca finished off their city rivals with defensive solidity, ball control and attacking flair. If the Catalans can maintain this style of play into next season, they will be a team no one wants to face.

Flick has criticised Barcelona's habit of attacking blindly late in games, instead of keeping possession to preserve their advantage. He likened them to "puppy chasing the ball", hoping the team would play with more determination.

This season, Barcelona have come from two goals down six times against Benfica, Atletico Madrid (twice), Real Madrid, Celta Vigo and Inter Milan, four times at home and twice away, but have still come back to draw or win.

Flick is already planning for next season.

Despite showing a strong spirit, Flick wants Barca to eliminate these dangerous situations. Looking back at the draw with Celta Vigo after leading 2-0, he commented: "This (Barcelona) is still a young team, the players need to be more careful. When we lose a man, we need to defend better, control the ball and protect the advantage."

Sufficient conditions

Another aspect of Flick's vision, which may worry neutral fans but excite Barcelona fans, is the desire to end dramatic comebacks.

The thrilling win over Real Madrid in round 35 was the sixth time this season they have come back from two goals down. Flick wants to eliminate this risky play to reduce tension.

The Champions League semi-final defeat to Inter Milan was a costly lesson. With Barca leading Inter 3-2 with just two minutes left, Yamal dribbled and opted to shoot from distance rather than holding back to waste time. Yamal's shot hit the post of goalkeeper Yann Sommer, allowing Inter to counterattack to tie things up 3-3, taking things into extra time and leading to Barcelona's defeat.

If Yamal plays it safe, Barcelona can reach the Champions League final in Munich, competing for the treble. While not criticizing Yamal, Flick sees this as an area where his mindset needs improvement.

Flick is proud of the current Barca, wants to maintain the beautiful style of play but stresses the team needs to improve mentality, intensity and pragmatism. Like a great leader, Flick is clearly already planning for next season while many are still celebrating the current triumph.

On the Espanyol field, Barca played pragmatically as Flick requested, it was a perfect test for the German coach to envision the prospect for the new season.

If he turns Barcelona into a less dramatic, disciplined and uncompromising team, that will be enough to make them unbeatable. Then no opponent will be able to stop Barcelona next season.

Source: https://znews.vn/neu-flick-bien-barcelona-thanh-nham-chan-ho-se-tro-nen-bat-bai-post1553475.html