Barcelona have never looked so lost under Hansi Flick. Should fans be worried?
A dejected Lamine Yamal during Barcelona’s 4-0 loss to Atletico Madrid on Thursday
Atletico Madrid were far superior to Lamine Yamal and Barcelona in Thursday’s Copa del Rey semi-final first leg Angel Martinez/Getty
The first 45 minutes of Thursday’s Copa del Rey semi-final first leg defeat at Atletico Madrid was one of the worst Barcelona performances under Hansi Flick.
Diego Simeone’s side were outstanding as they raced into a four-goal lead before half-time — and they could have been even further ahead, so far were Barca off the pace.
Marcos Llorente and Koke dominated Flick’s depleted midfield to such an overwhelming extent that the Barca manager had to take Marc Casado off after 36 minutes. On the flanks, Giuliano Simeone and Ademola Lookman destroyed the visiting La Liga champions and current leaders’ high line with clever moves in behind and quick switches of play. Antoine Griezmann and Julian Alvarez ran riot up front.
The Catalans were about as vulnerable as you can get in this 4-0 defeat — not that the scrutiny over Flick’s approach comes as news now, halfway through his second season in charge. That radical high line of his is Barcelona’s blessing and their curse. They can be a very fun team to root for — and it’s got the fanbase going in a way not seen in years — but the price to pay is that they offer opponents every chance to have a proper go at them.
After last season’s wild elimination by Inter in the Champions League semi-finals, you could wonder if within Flick’s romantic take there is a naive approach to top-level football. His radical offside trap certainly clashes with the pragmatism required every now and then from every elite European side who want to pick up silverware.
The thing is, this season, there are new elements that have made Barcelona’s defence even more unstable than it was in his 2024-25 debut year.
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Flick has been forced to use six different centre-back partnerships this term, combining Pau Cubarsi, Eric Garcia, Gerard Martin, Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen and Jules Kounde.
After the surprise departure of Inigo Martinez, who joined Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr in August on a free transfer, the 60-year-old manager has not found a solid partner for Cubarsi. Barcelona looked at reinforcing the position in the winter transfer window, but with no options available for their limited finances, full-back Joao Cancelo arrived on loan instead. This will certainly remain a priority to fix come the summer.
Injuries have hit hard, too. The success of Barcelona’s risky defensive system doesn’t just depend on the guys in the back line — pressing from the front, as a group, is also key. Raphinha, tipped by the coaching staff as the leader of the pack, has now missed 13 matches this season because of hamstring issues. He was absent again last night as the club continues to manage the problem area.
Barca’s recent injury problems have led to division behind the scenes. The Athletic reports the full story
Pedri’s skill in keeping the ball under pressure is also key. He is Flick’s most trusted performer in the team, but has been out since suffering another of his hamstring injuries on January 21 — his second extended spell on the sidelines with that complaint this season.
However, even in games with his full-strength team on the pitch, Flick had been given food for thought by several concerning patterns.
Barca’s tendency to start slowly stands out. Last night they were 2-0 down after 14 minutes, but they also went behind in the final five of their eight league-phase games in the Champions League — against Club Brugge, Chelsea, Eintracht Frankfurt, Slavia Prague and Copenhagen.
Only one of those matches — Chelsea away, 3-0 — ended in defeat (they also drew 3-3 in Bruges), as Barca had enough quality to find ways to win. But against top-end opposition such as Atletico, and with a potential last-16 meeting with title holders Paris Saint-Germain, who have already come to Catalonia and beaten them 2-1 this season, looming in the Champions League next month (if PSG get past Ligue 1 rivals Monaco in the upcoming play-offs), it’s a priority issue for Flick to address.
What will he actually do? Well, we shouldn’t expect a brutal change of style. And let me add a bit more: that is absolutely the right way to approach things.
Rethinking from scratch what has turned Barca into a European force once again, two seasons into Flick’s project and heading into crunch time this term, would be a conflicting message to send to the squad now.
Barcelona need to be defined by their relentless pressing, fearless attacking approach and offensive-minded philosophy.
Within that, however, Flick has to find something closer to a middle ground, especially in knockout competitions.
In that Champions League semi-final last season, Inter beat them 7-6 on aggregate. In the previous round, they conceded three second-leg goals away to Borussia Dortmund. In the Copa del Rey semi-finals, they squeezed past Atletico after a 4-4 draw at home in the first leg, in which they went 2-0 behind.
This is where Flick has to find tools to turn their magical madness into some sort of more controlled rationality. Judging by comments in his post-match press conference last night, there is an awareness of that.
“We received a good lesson,” Flick said. “Sometimes this can be good for the team and arrive at the right moment.
“The distances were too long between the lines. We did not press how we wanted. But I am proud of my team. Maybe not today for the first 45 minutes, but yes for the whole season. This is a heavy loss, but I am proud of my team. We need to accept this lesson and make things better.”
It is never a good moment to concede four goals in the semi-finals of any competition, and this result will surely demand a response from Barcelona in their next outing on Monday, when they visit Catalan neighbours Girona in La Liga.
But the Copa del Rey will not move the needle in Barcelona’s final assessment of this season in quite the same way as their league title defence or progress in the Champions League.
What last night’s Metropolitano nightmare does show, however, is just how much work they still need to do to achieve the greatness they are dreaming of.