Barça thrashed Feyenoord 5-1in their Champions League debut and confirmed the good feelings of the last few weeks. The Blaugrana returned to showing their best version and have already scored 22 goals in five matches. With an average of 4.4 goals per game, they are the team from the main European leagues that has scored the most at the start of this competition, and only in one match—against Athletic Club—did they not reach five goals.

After the Barça rout against Rayo Vallecano (5-2), an indiscreet camera caught a funny scene on the pitch. Karim Adeyemi, who had come on to play in the second half replacing Anthony Gordon, decided to do his post-match warm-up in flip-flops. Pepe Conde, the trainer who was coordinating the routine with other footballers at the time, raised his eyebrows and told him to please put on proper footwear. The German agreed seconds later and joined his teammates – all substitutes – who were working on their fitness in a stadium that was already practically empty.

Hansi Flick's face contrasts sharply with his look from a year ago, when he uttered the famous phrase “Egos kill success”. He is smiling after having kicked off the League with three victories and good footballing sensations.

Hansi Flick's third project began a month ago, when the World Cup semifinals still had to be played. Resigned, the German saw that he would have to do a good part of the preseason without the backbone of his team, since at that time up to ten players were still competing in the tournament in the United States and, therefore, would take a few weeks to return.

With the third project of the Hansi Flick era already underway and awaiting the return of the internationals and the resolution of the signing of the center forward – for now it does not seem that Atlético de Madrid is willing to loan Julián Álvarez – there is a not insignificant issue that is not monopolizing media attention: the captaincy of Barça. It is an important aspect because it is not just about negotiating bonuses or deciding who lifts the trophy, but about leadership in the locker room, a key element for a team that aspires to compete for all titles.

In an effort to put names to things, some Barcelona fans have dubbed the season the "Clàssic League," for having won it just against Real Madrid. Others have simply called it Flick's second league. Some wanted to name it by reaching 100 points, but it won't be possible because the team won't reach that figure after the defeat at Alabès' ground (1-0) when there was nothing more at stake than honor. But the title, achieved three matchdays before the end, could be called the "Catalans' League." And it's because it had been half a century since there was a Barça with such participation of players born in Catalonia: almost half of the available minutes.

Barça culminated a historic night to remember. The 2-0 victory allows the azulgranas to conquer the 29th League in their history, the second consecutive one since Hansi Flick's arrival at the bench. The Camp Nou experienced a night full of joy in what was a party from the first moment. Rashford and Ferran Torres put the 2-0 just after the start of the match against a Real Madrid that closed a week to forget —with internal fights included— seeing how the eternal rival won (and lifted) the League right in front of their noses.

Barça has communicated the death of Hansi Flick's father hours before playing a classic that could decide La Liga. The club has expressed its condolences to the German coach, who will be on the Camp Nou bench for the duel against Real Madrid (9 p.m., Movistar LaLiga), according to the club.

Hansi Flick had planned to go see Mago Pop's show on Sunday evening, but a technical problem "of force majeure" caused the Valles magician to suspend the performance. Consequently, the Barça coach was left with no other plan than to follow the Espanyol-Madrid game, in which only a white triumph prevented the mathematical achievement of his second League in two seasons on the blaugrana bench. Due to two goals from Vinícius, the celebration will be delayed by at least a week and will remain pending to achieve just one point out of the twelve available. The quickest way – and also the most pleasant – will be to get it this Sunday at the Camp Nou, in a classic that the culers will face with their belts loosened.

After almost two years, it seemed that Barça would draw a goalless match, a forgotten result for Barcelona fans. But Lewandowski made the difference with a good header and the game broke open in the final minutes. If Espanyol helps, the title could fall in a few hours. Who knows if Arbeloa's team will have to give a guard of honor to a team that knows how to win even in complicated contexts.

Hansi Flick's manual not only aligns with Johan Cruyff's pragmatic ideology of 'I'd rather win 5-4 than 1-0', but it has also delivered titles to legitimize a philosophy that always clashes with the conservative tribuneism of our country, or with lovers of defensive calculation everywhere. In this endemic political clash, the side of the good, which includes those who prefer artistic enjoyment over tactics, has signed a cultural vindication with the spectacle between PSG and Bayern in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals. Seeing the admiration the match has caused, I imagine Flick must have let out an ironic smile remembering how experts Thierry Henry or Ruud Gullit had called his offensive gamble kamikaze with sentences like 'you can't win the Champions League playing like this'.

Hansi Flick's manual not only aligns with Johan Cruyff's pragmatic ideal of “I’d rather win 5-4 than 1-0”, but it has also delivered titles to legitimize a philosophy that always clashes with the conservative armchair punditry of our house, or with lovers of defensive calculation everywhere. In this endemic political clash, the camp of the good guys, which includes those who prefer artistic enjoyment to tactical grids, has ratified a cultural vindication with the spectacle put on by PSG and Bayern in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals. Seeing the admiration the match has generated, I imagine Flick must have let out an ironic smile, recalling how experts like Thierry Henry or Ruud Gullit had branded his offensive approach as kamikaze with pronouncements like “you can’t win the Champions League playing like that”.

In the preview of the Barça-Celta match this Wednesday (9:30 PM, Movistar), Hansi Flick has defended that the team has recovered from their Champions League elimination and that "the atmosphere is very good" to achieve what would be the second consecutive league title with the German on the bench. "The players are well, happy, and motivated. I see it in training. Now we have to transfer it to the remaining matches." The Barça coach has praised his players, a very young group, and has recalled his affection for Barça and also for the city of Barcelona. This has led him to talk about his continuity in the Catalan institution, beyond the next season (2026-27), in which his current contract would end.

After the departure of Iñigo Martínez, Hansi Flick lost much more than a starter and a fundamental piece for his footballing idea: he was left without a left-footed centre-back. The absence of the defender from Ondarroa was particularly noticeable in the first part of the season, when the team left many doubts in defence. Pau Cubarsí, who began to establish himself with Xavi Hernández and was confirmed as an undisputed starter with Hansi Flick, was one of the first to notice it: forced to change his profile in the centre, it was not the same to have Iñigo Martínez as Ronald Araujo as his dancing partner. Finally, the solution the German coach ended up finding was to convert Gerard Martín into a centre-back. The experiment, previously tested in training, was transferred for the first time to a match on November 22nd, which coincided with the return to Camp Nou and ended with a resounding and comfortable 4-0 victory over Athletic Club.

The permission that Barça has given Raphinha to disconnect in Porto Alegre after getting injured with the canarinha is surprising because it deviates from the usual script. Although it is easy to empathize with the boy's emotional setback, it is very jarring that a player who has repeatedly torn his hamstring starts his recovery far from the Sports City. Especially if we consider that the medical services of the club that pays him have not yet been able to examine him.

In a few weeks it will be five years since Hansi Flick's surprising resignation from the Bayern Munich bench. In April 2021, just eight months after winning a treble – including a 2-8 victory over Messi's Barça – with the Bavarians, and despite having a contract secured until 2023, the coach announced he would not continue in the role due to deep disagreements with the club's sporting director, Hasan Salihamidzic, who made a series of decisions he did not like, such as not renewing Thiago Alcántara or Ivan Perisic.

A perfect day at Can Barça. Thousands of people have shown that this club is special because you can vote, there's a new stand open that has made the stadium feel spacious, and they've dominated on the pitch, where they didn't have to suffer for a single moment. As if it were a Gamper Trophy match or a barbecue, Sevilla let themselves be led to the slaughter like lambs and made it easy for Flick's Barça.

"I'm counting on you. Not just for the future, but for this season too. You'll get more playing time, and it will be quality playing time. I want you to stay." Just as he did with Eric Garcia in the winter transfer window last season, Hansi Flick spoke with Marc Bernal in January. Míchel's Girona was tempting him, promising him the playing time he wasn't getting in his second season with the Barça first team, after a dazzling start at seventeen that was cut short by a serious left knee injury. This sentiment was echoed by both Barça and the player's entourage, as well as by Bernal himself. He said it in an interview on the ARAIt was claimed that he was recovered, but until January his presence was minimal: 189 minutes between August and December.

THE RAPHINHA INVENTION

Hansi Flick promised Stamford Bridge that we would soon see a better version of Barça and, despite the setbacks, has finished in the Champions League Top 8That tough defeat forced the team to confront the reality of European expectations. It's undeniable that we've seen a Barça on the rise online, but to seriously compete in the most coveted race, they'll have to raise their level considerably. The first to recognize this is the coach, who, after the victory against Copenhagen, admitted that to aspire to the title, "we have to do things much, much better." He had seemed particularly angry about conceding the goal right at the start, after having spent the hours leading up to the match repeating the importance of achieving a "clean sheetThis is the great Achilles' heel of his Barça and, probably, the most obvious obstacle to prevailing when the big stages arrive. Since then, they haven't reached it again. Eleven matches, eight this season and three last, with 24 goals conceded. The calculator says the average is more than two goals per game. The persistent debate that, at the beginning of the season, had arisen around the risks of playing with such an advanced defensive line, with expert voices like Thierry Henry irritating him so much, has been closed. Strong in possession and even more relentless in pressing after losing it. Imaginative, daydreaming, falling madly in love without restraint, enjoying without fear. Why not?