Flick is the new Ronaldinho
The German coach won his first title as a Barça player after changing the club's mood, as the Brazilian did in 2003.
BarcelonaTwo men in their 70s taught me a life lesson 10 years ago. They were smiling and excited in the two seats in front of me on the coach hired by Barça that took us to Berlin to watch the second Treble win and my home. I made a promise to myself to 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 Manel used to say. Seville has become the first premium satisfaction on a path that feels golden. The victory against Madrid (3-2) increased the joy experienced by the culés who traveled to Seville, among whom there were surely many people in their 70s and 80s, after accumulating hours on the roads singing the Barça anthem and swallowing sandwiches in service areas across Spain. But the joy was already there before and would have remained there—after a brief duel—even if the Copa del Rey final had ended with a negative result. Because Barça is back—it hasn't experienced a massive trip since 2019, also to play a Cup final in Seville—and on big nights they'll arrive in a row 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 Catalans 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 has 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 Manel also said.
Ronaldinho's weapons for revolution were his toothless smile, his surfer-style salute, and his boundless ability to get fans off their seats every time he touched the ball. Flick's weapons are his familiar smile, an emotional management of the dressing room that self-help books would have dreamed of, and his blind faith in young people –He trusted Gerard Martín as a starter, without inventing anything - that at La Cartuja, where in 2021 Leo Messi lifted his last Barça title - another Copa - with the stands empty, they terrified a Madrid team for the first half hour that played as if they were Valladolid.
Pedri's goal revived them as they lost the excuse to continue being confined and Mbappé's entrance at half-time provided an imbalance and a bravery that caused Madrid to come back in a weak Barça second half. In any case, Ferran Torres lit up the final in a heroic play and only VAR, influenced by the madridista delirium on Saturday, prevented Barça from achieving glory in regulation time. But it ended up happening anyway. The possibility of a treble this year lies in Munich.
