The Champions League highlights the great contradiction of Flick's Barça

BarcelonaThe survival exercise facing Barça this week, with three seemingly manageable matches (Elche, Club Brugge, and Celta Vigo), is awaiting the urgent returns of players like Raphinha and Joan Garcia – both of whom will reappear after the next international break, meaning for the match against Athletic Club on Saturday the 22nd. However, two matches offer almost contrasting analyses, especially in defense, the team's main crutch this season. The difference in talent between Elche, promoted to La Liga this season, and Club Brugge, a Champions League side, also plays a role. The main contradiction lies in the fact that against the Valencian side, the club ceded possession (49% to 51% overall), while against the Belgians, Barça dominated possession (76%) but conceded far more clear chances: six shots on target for Brugge.

The first takeaway is clear: dominating possession doesn't guarantee control of the game. Dominating a match for 90 minutes, especially in a competition like the Champions League away from home, is difficult. "There's an opponent who also plays. We need to improve, that's true, but we can't expect to dominate every single match," Fermín López reflected in an interview with ARA a few weeks ago, when the defensive crisis was already evident. Dominating the game is one thing; it implies subduing the opponent. However, controlling the game is another, and the Barça team is struggling to be consistent in both possession and control. Furthermore, last season, although they also conceded quite a few goals, they managed to build leads of more than one goal during matches, something that is proving much harder to achieve this season.

One of the main problems with the defensive woes lies in the adjustments to the pressing. Marcus Rashford, who began to integrate these defensive concepts especially during his loan spell at Aston Villa last season under Unai Emery, doesn't press as he should or when it matters, which makes it easier for opposing defenses to play out from the back. Ferran Torres is committed to defensive efforts, but against Club Brugge it became clear that on several occasions he initiated the press on his own. Pressing the opposition's build-up play requires a well-oiled mechanism, and when one of the gears fails—that is, if a player is out of position or late—the team's defensive structure can collapse like a house of cards because Barça plays with a very high defensive line.

Eric Garcia is doubtful against Celta Vigo

Analyzing the match, Flick explained it clearly: "We weren't able to pressure their build-up play, we lost too many duels, it was important to defend against their very fast players." Against Club Brugge, Barça won 27 of the 56 ground duels that took place over the 90 minutes, two fewer than the home side. The Belgian team's captain, Hans Vanaken, was the player who managed to get free to launch the counter-attacks that Carlos Forbs and Nicolò Tresoldi would then execute. Opponents have studied Barça and don't hesitate to exploit the space behind a defense that could be without Eric Garcia for Sunday's match against Celta Vigo. The center-back has a broken nose after a challenge with Romeo Vermant.

The main issue is to put better pressure on the opposing passers, not letting them think easily. Flick doesn't foresee "betraying his DNA" and dropping back to a deeper defensive line. "I'm not considering playing with a low block. It's not the team's best moment, but I'm looking at the positives and we can play at another level. Perhaps after the international break, with Olmo and Lewandowski in better form..." The coach has already mentioned specific players. He's also eagerly awaiting the return of Raphinha and Joan Garcia. In fact, in the recovery of possession after losing it, a key concept in Flick's philosophy and one in which Barça excelled last season, it's also conditioned by how they attack and how they occupy space. All of this boils down to a question of organization, which is what was lacking against Club Brugge. The Belgians punished them with three goals, which could have been more if not for VAR and because Forbs squandered a clear chance from the heart of the penalty area, just before making it 3-2. "It's about intensity; when we're playing without the ball, we have to be alert when they get ahead of us with two passes. It's not just about defending the back line, we also have to defend in midfield; we need to improve on this. We will improve," concluded Hansi Flick, who is confident of getting players back and turning the team around.