Football sometimes reminds us that history not only repeats itself but sometimes returns to the stage with even greater glory. Perhaps at the beginning of the 2024-2025 season, none of Barcelona’s fans or even football experts imagined such a performance from Flick’s team. A team that in April 2024, in the last El Clasico under Xavi, lost 3-2 to Real Madrid and handed over the league title to Real with a 10-point gap showed no signs of this team.

But even in those days, one thing kept hope alive in the hearts of the fans: the prominent presence of La Masia’s young players in the first team. With Xavi’s departure, Hansi Flick took his place. The economic and managerial problems that have been Barcelona’s Achilles heel for the past 10 years still persist, and Flick stepped into this challenging arena seeing these conditions. When he privately spoke with his compatriot Gündoğan at the beginning of the season and asked him to leave the team, many attributed this to Laporta’s pressure, but his goal was to implement a style that perhaps no one fully understood at the time. The presence of a young and fresh midfield was his priority, which he clearly showed in the preseason games by giving minutes to Casado and Bernal.

As the season progressed, not only Barcelona fans but football fans in general saw an attractive team that improved day by day and presented a different football. A team that was not expected to win any titles at the beginning of the season, by the end of the season was a serious candidate for a treble, perhaps losing one of those titles due to inexperience. But in the battle that somehow determined the fate of the La Liga title and one of the most important titles of the season, under the guidance of Hansi Flick, they faced a Real Madrid that, with the presence of Kylian Mbappé, wanted to repair its wounded pride.

Perhaps for Real Madrid, this match was an opportunity to regain their pride after recent failures in the biggest club match in the world. But football, as always, is unpredictable; because this same Barcelona, which a few days earlier returned from Milan with their heads down, in the same stadium that once hosted the Olympics, wrote one of the most epic comebacks in the history of El Clasico.

The German Version of Barcelona
Barcelona came into this El Clasico with a 4-2-3-1 system. Hansi Flick decided to use a combination that would take control of the midfield and at the same time put pressure on Real Madrid’s defense with quick transitions from defense to attack. Flick, by placing Pedri and De Jong in the midfield, tried to cut off Real’s communication lines and dominate the flow of the game.

Barcelona, with intense pressure and pressing in the opponent’s half, forced Real Madrid players to make mistakes and regained many balls in dangerous areas. The most important of these were the third and fourth goals, which came from intense pressing and lightning-fast counterattacks.

In both goals, almost 10 Barcelona players were present in Real Madrid’s half.
Flick placed De Jong and Pedri in the midfield to dominate the game and cut off Real’s communication lines, and with the use of fast players like Yamal and Raphinha, he created deadly and dangerous counterattacks. Moreover, Flick frequently swapped players’ positions to create more pressure on Real’s defense and also to create space.

Raphinha’s heatmap shows that he was very active on the left side of the field and with repeated penetrations, put Real Madrid’s defense under pressure. Also, Yamal’s heatmap shows his extensive movements on the right side and creating suitable spaces for Barcelona’s attacks. Torres also created numerous scoring opportunities with his movements deep in Real’s defense.

Alongside the fiery attack line and strong midfield, one should not easily overlook Barcelona’s slow and error-prone defense, which is the Achilles heel of this version of Barcelona. Flick, who believes in the philosophy of Gegenpress, does not currently have enough tools for this, but he has taken this tactic into a new phase by taking a risky tactic. When the team plays this high, it definitely needs faster defenders in the center of defense to be effective in counterattacks. Flick has solved this problem by using the offside trap; instead of defenders running after the attacker at full speed during a counterattack, they position themselves in such a way and coordinate with each other that during the opponent’s counterattack, they trap the attacker with a coordinated movement. Certainly, many times attackers have escaped from this trap and managed to score, as in this game, Barcelona’s goal was opened twice, which was detected thanks to offside technology.

Flick’s substitutions in the second half played an important role in maintaining Barcelona’s lead. The entry of fresh-energy players like Fermín López and Baldé helped strengthen the midfield and flanks and prevented the team’s defensive collapse. With Baldé replacing Martín, Barcelona’s speed on the left side increased, which helped control and manage the game.

Ancelotti’s Last Supper
Real Madrid entered the field with a 4-2-3-1 system, a system that allows the team to be flexible in both attack and defense. Carlo Ancelotti intended to make the most of his attackers’ speed and technique with this lineup.

In this game, Ancelotti had placed special emphasis on the speed of his forwards to escape from Barcelona’s defense, which in the first 20 minutes of the game was completely successful, but as the game progressed, Barcelona, with the strength of its midfield line, transferred the pressure to Real’s half and was able to dictate its game to them. In the second half, Ancelotti brought in Modrić to add the spice of experience to his team to create some balance in the midfield, and to some extent, he was successful because Barcelona could not create as many opportunities as in the first half.

Moreover, this experienced coach’s hands were completely empty in the defensive line due to injuries and suspensions. The absence of a specialized right-back and a specialized and experienced center-back repeatedly hurt Real Madrid. Real Madrid, despite the defeat in this El Clasico and with an XG of 2.7, showed that it is still one of the best attacking teams in the world. The combination of speed, technique, and experience of the players of this team allows Real to be dangerous at any moment of the game. However, defensive weaknesses and inability to control Barcelona’s intense pressure in the early minutes prevented a favorable result.

In this regard, Mbappé’s performance was truly brilliant. With his hat-trick in this match, he broke Iván Zamorano’s historic record, repeatedly taking advantage of the weakness of Barcelona’s defensive structure. With his speed and finishing power, he opened the goal three times and showed why he is one of the best forwards in the world. But this hat-trick and brilliant performance did not lead to a positive result for his team, making him the big loser of this game.

Flick, La Masia, and the Return of Glory to Catalonia
Barcelona this season has shown that it has not only returned to its peak days but is also on the path to building a powerful and tactical team with Hansi Flick. The combination of Gegenpress and the offside trap that Flick has used, despite the current defensive weaknesses, has still been effective and has had an admirable performance against big teams like Real in the Super Cup and the last El Clasico or Inter Inzaghi. But everyone knows that this system will reach perfection when Barcelona repairs its weaknesses. As Flick pointed out in the post-match press conference in response to journalists about the number of goals conceded by the team, he was aware of this weakness but did not have the opportunity to repair it in this congestion. This shows that Flick will have a special plan for the preseason to fix these problems.

Flick, with a special look at La Masia, has trusted a generation of young players who not only build the future of the team but also keep the spirit of Barcelona alive. Players like Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsí, who have made their way from the heart of La Masia to the main squad, show that Barcelona’s philosophy is alive and a bright future awaits this team. Paying attention to this player factory can insure this team for years and create good economic benefits for the club.

Barcelona has once again proven that when philosophy and tactics are properly combined, no team can stop it. Barcelona is here to write history once again in the newly renovated Camp Nou stadium and make its fans’ hearts beat with beautiful football.

Babaak Nafardavoudi