The first remedies of the most important signing for Flick

BarcelonaAfter 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.

This post-match routine might seem like a wake-up call or even a punishment from Hansi Flick to the players who are not starters, but in reality, it is part of a plan designed primarily to prevent injuries, which caused many headaches in the team's day-to-day life last season. The bet to improve results in this regard is Yann-Benjamin Kugel, a 46-year-old professional who accepted the challenge after Flick proposed it to him two weeks before the start of the preseason.

With the last La Liga title in the bag, the Barcelona coach demanded changes in his players' physical preparation, which necessarily implied the departure of Julio Tous, who had been recruited in the summer of 2024. The move was sensitive because Tous still had the backing of a sporting management that does not want to lose authority in the face of the dressing room's requests. But it had to be carried out, not only because a large part of the players requested it but because Flick himself went so far as to cast doubt on his future on the bench if it were not done. Finally, the organization agreed to it, and Tous left the first team. He now retains his salary as coordinator of the Barcelona sports performance optimization area.

After this shake-up, Flick went on vacation and left the search for the new head of physical trainers in the hands of Deco and Alejandro Echevarría. Many names were rumored and offers piled up, but Joan Laporta's trusted duo in football matters did not find the right profile. So, in the end, it was the coach's contact book that allowed them to get by with the incorporation of Kugel, with whom Flick had worked at the German Football Association (DFB). He had been without a team for two years. His last work experience had been at the Portuguese club Benfica with another compatriot as coach, Roger Schmidt. A decade earlier, he coincided in Salzburg with Jonatan Soriano. "I remember him as a very serious guy. From the modern school. He would start running with us!", the former Catalan striker explains to ARA.

"He is from the modern school, he would start running with us!"Kugel has moved to Barcelona with his whole family, and unlike Tous, who only went one or two days to the Ciutat Esportiva to monitor his department, he travels there whenever there is training. He quickly integrated with the group of Germans on the staff –all of them in love with Barcelona thanks to Flick– and communicates with them fluently in his day-to-day work. But the professionals he has the most contact with are the physical trainers who execute his plan, all of them Spanish and most coming from other Barça teams, like Lucas del Campo, who comes from the women's team. For the moment, he has not signed any staff members of his own choosing. He is also comfortable with Conde, who has gone from being a 'Tous man' to adapting to a new reality.

Although he often jumps onto the pitch to direct a routine, it is in the gym where Kugel spends the most time. In these first two months of work, the players have noticed changes especially in strength training, where they felt weakest last season. Resistance bands have taken a back seat and weights have gained influence in physical preparation. Also in post-match sessions, which, to avoid foot injuries, cannot be done in flip-flops (as Adeyemi intended a few days ago). The recipe fits with Soriano's memory –"We worked a lot on explosiveness to be very aggressive"– and with Flick's great obsession: pressing in all lines. And all this in a more than correct Spanish that the new Barça physical trainer learned thanks to a vital stage he spent in Costa Rica. Time will tell if his remedies minimize injuries, especially in the decisive stretch of the campaign.