Flick is the new Ronaldinho

BarcelonaTwo men in their 70s taught me a life lesson 10 years ago. They smiled, chatted, and beamed with excitement in the two seats in front of me on the coach hired by Barça that took us to Berlin to see Barça secure their second treble. It was a 26-hour trip there and a 26-hour trip back. We arrived home happy and exhausted, and I promised myself that I would always remember that when I was 70, I wanted something, anything, to still excite me enough to face 52 hours on the coach with that zest for life.

Although football expands into as many facets as life, we all seek the same main objective: to improve our mood. This improvement is a possibility that Barça men's team hasn't offered its fans for too many years, stuck in a negative cycle that caused consecutive disappointments to generate more indifference than anger. "And all the disasters you've done don't matter as much anymore and seem far away," as the Manels used to say. Sevilla has established itself as the first premium satisfaction on a path that is perceived as golden. The victory against Madrid (3-2) increased the joy that the Barça fans who traveled to Seville, among whom there were surely many people in their 70s and 80s, experienced after spending hours on the roads singing the Barça anthem and gorging themselves on sandwiches at service stations across Spain. But the joy was already there before and would have remained there—after a brief mourning—even if the Copa del Rey final had ended in a negative result. Because Barça is back—they haven't experienced a mass trip since 2019, also to play a Copa del Rey final in Seville—and the big nights will arrive one after another this May.

An emotional revolution

If scientists were to investigate the origin of that pleasurable feeling, all roads would lead to a man named Hansi Flick, with whom the fans would leave their house keys so he could walk their dog, knowing that by the time they returned, the German and the dog would have become best friends. Flick has rewritten Barça's emotional landscape, like those people who appear in your life and turn your entire worldview upside down. It's time to place the emotional revolution Flick brought about at Barça on par with that brought about by Ronaldinho's arrival in 2003. "And you recognize an ancient force and without question, you will surrender," as the Manels also said.

Ronaldinho's weapons for the revolution were his toothless smile, his surfer-style salute, and an unbridled ability to get people off their seats every time he touched the ball. Flick's weapons are his familiar smile, an emotional management of the dressing room that even self-help books would love to have, and blind faith in young people –He trusted Gerard Martín as a starter in the final, without inventing anything - that at La Cartuja, where in 2021 Leo Messi lifted his last Barça title - another Cup - with the stands empty, they frightened a Madrid team during the first half hour that during that stretch played as if it were Valladolid.

Pedri's goal revived them as they lost the excuse to remain in confinement, and Mbappé's halftime substitute provided a balance and courage that sparked a comeback for Real Madrid in a weak second half for Barça. However, Ferran Torres ignited the final with a heroic move, and only VAR, influenced by the madridista delirium on Saturday, prevented Barça from achieving glory in regulation time. But they still managed to win. This year's chance to secure the treble is in Munich. We'll see how many hours it takes to get there by coach.