How has Hansi Flick Changed Barcelona?

There was a time when Barcelona was said to be in crisis. The signings were not performing well, Xavi's field tactics did not work, and they were being kicked out of every major tournament they were part of.

This came with humiliation after humiliation the club had to suffer, say it that they had to ask their top earners to cut down their salaries or have to sell their stadium grass. Or retiring their radio stations and firing their staff members.

Name it all, Barcelona have gone through the worst.

The only worst thing that could happen was that they saw their arch-rival Real Madrid win the most prestigious trophy, the UEFA Champions League, for the 15th time in a row.

While Real Madrid was confirming the signing of Mbappe, Barcelona decided to go to court for Frankie De Jong's wages!

From this to signing Hansi Flick, the German who was quite an unpopular figure in Catalonia because his Bayern Munich ran riot against Barcelona 8-2 in the Champions League, A memory that would forever haunt Barcelona fans.

The Signing Of Hansi Flick

But this time the German signed for Barcelona

The German arrived at the beginning of the season for Barcelona

Even though Barcelona was in a grave crisis regarding the financial situation, Hansi Flick seemed confident enough to handle that pressure.

There was no promise or fancy budget given to him to spend in the market

All he had to work with was the group of players Barcelona already had and La Masia. Hansi Flick’s Barcelona started out slow, they were not outright performers who dazzled but were much better than what Barcelona did under Xavi.

The group came into play against Sevilla, where they ran riot with the opposition.

Won 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu, and thrashed Bayern Munich 4-1 in the Champions League.

How did suddenly Barca became a prime version of Brazil 2002?

The very bright light in the team was the young 17-year-old Euro winner Lamine Yamal.

Yamal was special after what he did in the Euros.

What Hansi Flick suddenly change with this Barcelona team?

The best thing that happened with Hansi Flick was La Masia.

Flick had to solely rely on that one institution Barcelona is based on, they have produced world cup-winning material with that academy, It was this same academy that would save Barcelona again.

Hansi Flick assembled a team that is young yet well mature, a new but focused bunch of players.

The backline was taken over by Pau Cubarsi, the star boy of defense straight from La Masia, Alejandro Balde, Jules Kounde, and Inigio Martinez, Out of these four, 2 are straight out from Barcelona-B team to A team and have become starters in this team.

With talents like Fermin Lopez, Gavi, and Pedri in the midfield there is nothing but a balance created in this team that is so well done that you get perfect players for exact positions, you have the attacking prowess of Fermin Lopez, and you have defensive and ball retention capabilities of Gavi and you have that mindblowing vision of Pedri. And not to forget they have Frankie De Jong too.

They also have players who have very good Attacking and finishing prowess in Lewandowski, Raphinha, and Yamal

Tactics changed from Tiki Taka

Flick has completely changed how this young group of players play together, gone are the days when Barca used to touch the ball 500 times before scoring the goal, this team is completely based on high-press and counter-attacking that could be seen with Hansi Flick’s Bayern Munich.

You might have noticed how far up the back line have played under Hansi, it is very easy to catch the opposition offside with this big of a back line. You might have noticed several times Mbappe was caught offside during the El-Classico when Barcelona thrashed Real Madrid at Home.

But this also gives the players freedom to press and attack forward.

With the whole team in the opposition half, it becomes easy to find gaps in the width as you have electrifying players like Yamal and Raphinha on the wings who are ready to pounce when the ball arrives and deliver that cross in for Lewandowski or cut in themselves and score a goal.

This modern style of High Press football can also be seen in Liverpool's play, However, Barcelona has not matured that much enough to be compared with that of Liverpool, but when this team ages, the play will be sweet as hell to watch.