As soon as he landed in the Barcelona locker room, Hansi Flick was no stranger to what was happening in Madrid. The coach, in one of his first conversations with the squad, insisted to his players on the importance of starting the League without distractions. “We must start strong. We can’t lose points. It will take time for Madrid to fit Mbappé into their system and we have to take advantage of that situation to make a difference that will allow us to reach the end of the season alive,” the German coach warned his boys. They complied. With the exception of the defeat in Pamplona against Osasuna, lost as a result of mass rotations, the Blaugrana have added three in the rest of the games (10), with a balance of 37 goals for and 10 against. No victory, in any case, has been as important for Barça’s morale as this Saturday in Chamartín, nor for Hansi Flick’s aspirations to distance himself from a Madrid that, for now, cannot find Mbappé, at the same time loses Bellingham, only rescued by Vinicius’ football.
They say in the Barcelona locker room that, during the last week, Hansi Flick was especially active and motivated. He was thinking about Bayern, of course, but he reminded them of his words from the preseason: “They haven’t attached Mbappé.” The German coach took on the task of adjusting the pressure, always looking to inflate the confidence of his players. I wasn’t talking to them about winning, but about scoring goals. “We didn’t have to settle for scoring one goal, I wanted three or four,” explains one of the Barcelona players. Lewandowski stood out (one goal against Bayern and two against Madrid), Raphinha shone (hat trick against the German team and closed the rout at the Bernabéu), Lamine Yamal celebrated his first goal in a classic and Iñaki Peña, finally, had a leading role (for the better) against Real Madrid.
The Blaugrana erased Bayern in Montjuïc (4-1) and they took the Santiago Bernabéu (0-4). Flick’s success on the scoreboard, but also in the locker room. He did not change the formula in the big events, high pressure, high defensive line and quick attacks. “The coach asked us for a very advanced line from the first day. It is dangerous to play with so many meters behind you, yes, but we have done it perfectly against the most dangerous attackers in the world in the games against Bayern and Real Madrid. The line cannot be pulled back and this shows us that the idea fits our game. The good work is reflected in the offsides we caused,” explained Peña, after Madrid fell to 12 offsides against Barça. Iñigo Martínez joined in the explanation: “We understand each other very well at the back, we know when to take the line or not, we take risks, but if you wait at the back for Madrid it is worse.”
Although the lights of the classic were pointed at the front three —The Barça trident is the most lethal in Europe, 25 goals, two more than Bayern (23)—the Barcelona squad was waiting for Iñaki Peña. When the classic ended, the players went to look for the goalkeeper to congratulate him, key with two saves when Barça won 0-2. “I’m proud of the team. And I am also very happy for Iñaki Peña. “He did very well,” Flick highlighted about the performance of the goalkeeper, who finished the duel with four saves. The statistics, however, do not count a blow from the goalkeeper on the line to Bellingham due to a previous offside by Mbappé when the duel was 0-0. It didn’t add to their numbers, but it did add to their morale.
The trust of his players is precisely one of the keys to Flick’s management. With Ter Stegen injured, Barcelona went to look for the retired Szczesny, a goalkeeper who had stood out at Juventus. But Flick did not hesitate: he would continue betting on Peña. “I am very sincere with the players. It is important that they know what is happening. Beyond the fact that they are things they don’t want to hear,” explains Flick. Peña, then, kept his place, while Szczesny accepted his. “I am very grateful to Szczesny. From the first day he arrived he has treated me with a lot of respect and we get along very well and work very well,” said the goalkeeper, who trained in Barcelona’s youth football.
Today Flick has two goalkeepers for his cause. Peña feels important, while Szczesny works to challenge the youth squad’s ownership. The same thing happens in the center of the field. The return of De Jong, Dani Olmo and Gavi did not undermine the self-esteem of Casadó, Fermín López and Pedri. On the contrary, it strengthened a group that scored four goals at the Bernabéu, now six points behind Real Madrid in the League.
“The atmosphere in the group is impressive,” celebrates the German coach. Everyone is plugged into Flick’s cause and there is no better symptom than Iñaki Peña. When Szczesny’s presence threatened to erase him from the three posts, Peña left the Bernabéu without conceding. “We have to enjoy, but there is a lot left, the important objectives are against the best teams in the world. We have changed the mentality and the team has improved a lot, the amount of goals we scored is outrageous. Keeping a clean sheet is another of Flick’s demands,” the goalkeeper concluded. Under the demands and good environment of the German coach, he grows in Barcelona, he does so in Europe, and also in Spain.
