In just a few months in charge at Barça, Hansi Flick established a highly risky style of defending. With his line so high, opponents repeatedly fell into the offside trap. In fact, last season no team in Europe conceded as many in domestic competition. There were 181 in 38 league matches, far behind the second-highest tally, Parma's 119. This season, they once again top the list (19 in four matches). But FIFA has long been considering a change to the rule that could have consequences for this way of understanding football.

In a football that places media pressure on players and taints expectations from a young age, where processes are shortened and the club is soon required to provide them with a path to the professional world, there are players who find opportunities and demonstrate that there are alternative routes. One example is Fermín López and his time at Linares. Another is Gerard Martín, who at 20 years old was looking for a place in professional football wearing the Cornellà shirt. Last season, he played important minutes due to Alejandro Balde's injury: he participated in two of the Clásicos and the Champions League semi-finals. He fondly keeps the shirts from those days in his wardrobe at home. Now, a new setback for Balde will put him back in the starting lineup.

In the second part in Vallecas, with Rayo drowning Barça, Joan Garcia made a great save in Isi Palazón And the Madrid team's forward stared at him in disbelief. The Murcia native's face epitomizes the mood of a helpless stadium. The Catalan goalkeeper had his first great game as a Barça player and will take advantage of these days to unwind, although he knows that getting back into the swing of things with the Spanish national team is only a matter of time and that will cut into his free time. The rest also serves to recover from the pain associated with the scare he suffered during the warm-up at the Mallorca stadium. The discomfort in the little finger of his left hand will linger for a few more weeks.

Barça begin their defense of their Liga F title on Saturday at the Johan Cruyff Stadium against Alhama CF (8 p.m., DAZN), a trophy they have won uninterruptedly since the 2019-20 season. The big challenge, as has been the case for the last five years, is winning the Champions League, which they missed out on last season in a final that crowned Renée Slegers' Arsenal. That match exposed some of the key flaws of Pere Romeu's Barça, a coach looking to rebuild the team's winning streak in Europe after the most difficult summer in recent memory. The team was only reinforced with two new players: center back Laia Aleixandri, whose contract with City expired, and the return of full-back Lucía Corrales, who had been loaned to Sevilla.

The week in which Hansi Flick's Barça scared Europe, thrashing Real Madrid at the Bernabéu and Bayern Munich at Montjuïc, they did so with Marc Casadó as the driving force behind the team. The midfielder from Sant Pere de Vilamajor, playing with his heart on his sleeve, quickly became an icon of Barcelona. But the reality is that, just a few months earlier, when he was in tears after losing to Barça Atlètic in the final of the play-off After promotion to the Second Division, his future as a Barça player was far from clear. Flick, who had been studied on video, gave him a chance in preseason and saved him from an exit.

Many still struggle to explain how the perfect machine that Hansi Flick designed in just a few months, his Bayern Munich, would end up falling apart a season later. A few months after winning the sextet, a feat that until then had only been achieved by Pep Guardiola's Barça, Flick resigned. Despite writing his Bayern's name into the history books, the manager was left with a label, a kind of legend that warns about how he went about his second year in the Bavarian capital. However, the inside story leads to a series of disputes and disagreements with the board that was key.

After several postponements, Barça announced that their return to the renovated Camp Nou would be for the Joan Gamper Trophy on August 10, against Cesc Fàbregas' Como. A few days later, however, The club announced that it would not be possible in the end. because the necessary permits were not obtained. Now, construction continues against the clock, always with the goal of being able to partially open the stadium for the first home league match, against Valencia, in mid-September.

In the same way that Fermín excited Barcelona fans with a great goal against Real Madrid or Marc Guiu, with just a couple of touches, made his debut with the first team, Pedro Fernández made his debut in the Culerada by scoring in its debut with Hansi FlickIn just a few weeks, he's gone from playing primarily in the U19s to being among the most promising players at La Masia. "He's only played 14 minutes and he looks like he's just won a Champions League or the Ballon d'Or. It can be a lot of pressure for him. It's a bit dizzying to read all the news," says Javi Roxo, who watched him grow up at Val Miñor, the Galician club from which he joined Barça.

There isn't a summer in which La Masia doesn't leave a name on the table to consider for the future. This year, Dro Fernández and Jofre Torrents stand out. Hansi Flick knew the potential of the young Barça players long before arriving in Barcelona, and he demonstrated it in his first press conference. "A few days ago, Toni Fernández turned 16, it's incredible. There are some very good 15, 16, 17, and 18-year-old players here. They still need to improve a lot, but they have the foundation, they're incredible," said the coach.

One of Deco's open files is the goalkeeper's position. Barça moved quickly and brought in Joan Garcia when Szczesny's stay was practically agreed upon. The decision caught Ter Stegen on vacation, and upon his return, he has been training separately from the group. due to back problems and is considering surgery, Which will leave him out of action in the first months of the season and allow them to take advantage of his injury to register Joan Garcia. Currently, the first team has four goalkeepers. The other is Iñaki Peña, who is also tipped to leave Barcelona.

Hansi Flick's second season at Barça kicks off this Sunday. It will once again be with young players leading the way: Lamine Yamal has barely reached the age of majority, Pau Cubarsí will also be joining, and in a few weeks, and without any rush, Marc Bernal is expected. The small group will be joined by a friend, Jofre Torrents, a roommate at La Masia, where he still lives. They have played together all their lives at Barça, and the club knows he's a candidate to shine in the coming weeks.

Barça announced on social media, in a video featuring Joan Laporta, that Camp Nou would reopen for the Joan Gamper Trophy on August 10. The club's plan is to open the first two rings and a capacity of around 60,000 spectators. However, with just over a month to go until the first match at the stadium, there's no complete certainty that this can be achieved.