Should Madrid be Scared of Flick’s Barçelona?

In the most surprising contrast in fortunes, Barcelona has looked the better team when compared to their Clásico rivals since the first kick off whistle of La Liga EA Sports. Creating endless conversations about the system of play adopted by the newly appointed manager, Hansi Flick and what the future holds for the Blaugrana giants this season.

Real Madrid, on the other side of the coin, has struggled to gel as a team in recent matches. Having difficulties in finding the net from open play and clearly struggling to incorporate new players into certain on-field positions.

We look at both fortunes which seem to have befallen the Spanish giants and how their season may or may not spin around their current form.

The Situation at Real Madrid

So far in the league, Madrid currently in second place, has played 5 matches, winning four and drawing the other; scoring 9 times and conceding twice in the process. It is also notable to highlight their UEFA Super Cup triumph over Italian counterparts, Atalanta.

Looking at the Los Blancos set up and the calibre of players in their ranks, it is illogical to assume that they would struggle to find a proper team chemistry come the end of the season. With the likes of Jude Bellingham, David Alaba and Eduardo Camavinga unavailable so far due to injury, the incorporation of certain players like Fede Valverde and Lucas Vazquez into unfamiliar terrain surely promises shakiness.

Having lost key players like Nacho, Joselu and Toni Kroos in the previous season, not much was changed in the dressing room as Madrid remained rather quiet in the market after sealing the signings of highly rated youngster, Endrick and World Cup winner, Kylian Mbappé.

Mbappé who had constantly been on the radar of the Spanish giants, finally made the long awaited move and immediately sponsored ecstasy, a high level of anticipation and refreshed demands into the camp of Madrid supporters. A statement signing who only oozed an aura of more trophies in the bag for genie tactician, Carlo Ancelotti.

However, it hasn’t been the exact start to a new season many anticipated for a squad clearly regarded as ‘Galacticos’ 2.0 and suggestions have begun flailing the media scape about the glaring similarities in the playing style of their front three, Vinicius Jr, Mbappé and Rodrygo who all seem to prefer attacking down the left flank.

As it was noted in the words of Real Sociedad player in the build-up to their last game, Take Kubo; “I think their front three all play in the same position.” In the same match Carlo Ancelotti made some tweaks, starting Brahim Diaz over Rodrygo down the right wing but for an unfortunate first half hamstring injury for the Moroccan which sidelined him again and sent the team back into the position they were obviously avoiding.

Admitting to his club’s underperformance in recent games, Ancelotti stated post match; “it was a complicated match. We didn’t deserve to win, because Real Sociedad pressed a lot. We held on and suffered, we had commitment. And I value that a lot, because it’s not easy to find commitment in a team with so much quality. And today we did it.”

With Rodrygo having a rather quiet match that night, Real Madrid were at the mercy of two penalties and three attempts hitting the bar from Real Sociedad. It remains to be seen if the return of certain players to the squad will return squad balance. Experienced gaffer, Carlo Ancelotti is also not a novice to such a situation and will probably have enough in the bag to counter the headache of Madristas.

Although they have not been on their finest form, they certainly haven’t lacked a major element; winning. They remain a team that knows how to get results and that’s ultimately paramount.

An Opposite Fate at Barcelona

Many would have predicted a precarious start to life for Hansi Flick at Barça with the Catalan giants not only facing a load of financial complications restricting them from making signings and registering players into the first team. The predicaments which had been inherited by club president Joan Laporta since his reelection in 2021, has still been a major factor dictating the spending of the club.

Upon confirming further curtailments limiting the club’s spending, interests in certain transfer targets, most notably, Nico Williams had to be dropped due to a need to balance the team’s wage bill. Certain exits were also required to register new signings, Dani Olmo and Pau Victor.

Losing İlkay Gündoğan, Marcos Alonso, Sergi Roberto on a free, the exits of Marc Guiu (€6M), Vitor Roque (loan) & Oriol Romeu (loan) and injuries to major earners, Araujo and Christensen were extremely pivotal in freeing up spaces clogging the wage bill which hindered the registration of new signings.

Devoid of Barcelona’s financial problems, the team has been flying on the pitch. Putting up convincing scorelines, leading the pack with five wins in five games, 15 points and a staggering +13 goal difference.

With players like Raphinha, Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, Dani Olmo and Pedri in the spotlight, the performance of the club has been closely linked with a strong collective responsibility sense. Adopting a higher tempo, quick paced transitions and collective pressing, Flick looks to be the man improving the traditionally adopted system of play at the Catalan capital.

Including a lot of young players to the system, La Masia has proven to be Barcelona’s saviour once again. Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi, Marc Casadó, Hector Fort, Dominguez and the injured Marc Bernal have stepped up occasionally when called upon.

The unavailability of major players like Ronald Araujo, Andres Christensen, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi and Ansu Fati further heightens expectations for fans about the Flick system of play should all options be made available unto him.

The Excitement of El Clásico: What the Future Holds

There have been a lot of predictions regarding what this new era of El Clásico tends to showcase, striking a lot of comparisons with Laporta’s first tenure as club president in the early 2000s.

While Florentino Perez was building a dreadful all-star team which would go on to feature the likes of David Beckham, Ronaldo Nazario, Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Roberto Carlos, Kaká, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Luka Modrić, Toni Kroos among a host of many other highly rated, expensive signings, Laporta was banking on project La Masia which led to the birth of arguably the world’s greatest player Lionel Messi.

This project was corroborated by big name signings such as Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto’o, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Neymar and Luis Suárez across various presidential administrations in La Blaugrana. An era which would go on to escalate the level of rivalry between both teams, posing them as the best in the world.

A similar play of events looks to be on the cards right now as although, Madrid seems like the stronger side on paper, Barcelona’s recent displays propose to make the coming El Clásico a global spectacle.

Whichever angle it is evaluated from, Real Madrid and Barcelona are in a situation where many want to see them go head to head which has restored the zest in the match-up in many ways.