This is the Barça we want
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'.
If Flick's Barça has not yet reached a final in the top European competition, leaving aside the refereeing, it is not because his playing system is too risky. The German is criticized for the team conceding goals very easily when, surely, what he will have missed most this season is having alternatives to attack better in decisive moments. The exuberance that made us thrill watching the 5-4 at the Parc des Princes is explained by the football that Luis Enrique and Vincent Kompany think, but also by the talent on the pitch to execute it. And that's the crux of the matter: last summer, Deco's number one objective was to strengthen with Luis Díaz and he had to settle for Marcus Rashford. Looking at the Colombian winger's goal serves to confirm the galaxy that separates them: a metaphor for Barça.
Flick, at last, has started to speak clearly: he wants "perfect" decisions to be made in the summer to make the necessary leap forward to dream of the Champions League. Yes, the economic management carried out in the club's offices has an increasing impact on the ambitions on the pitch. And the better the coach, the more evident it becomes that he needs to be given more resources to make the most of him. The excuses for not returning to the famous 1:1 rule of fair play should not be repeated in a club that cannot afford to continue flying like a low cost airline. Flick, who is on the verge of his second league title after a particularly tough season due to injuries, has squeezed the most out of the squad and deserves to be able to work better. Now it's up to president Joan Laporta to go out and win by attacking in earnest.