Question is... How did they know the temperature?
Hansi Flick | Barcelona boss
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With Barca conceding a lot of goals on the counter.
Flick's Bayern was a machine. However the play style was miles away from Barça's tiki taka philosophy.
Barcelona is turning into Pyongyang.
Not so far i would say. Flick basically returned Bayern to the principles of play that LVG and Guardiola ingrained in the team after the Ancelotti-Kovac debacles..positional play but very vertical. His style is also very direct wich will be a breath of a fresh air for Barcelona..
All according to plan if they just score more
It should be everything but boring, I hope.Weird signing as a manager. Kick out Xavi because he wanted rid of Lewo and some other older players, as he wanted Barcelona to press from the front and Lewo isn't capable of it anymore.
Didn't flick's Bayern press all over the pitch? Barcelona as they currently are won't do that.
Didn't flick's Bayern press all over the pitch? Barcelona as they currently are won't do that.
That is why I am so baffled by the signing. Flick's Bayern were basically: let's have 8 players press like maniacs and give thoughts and prayers to the two CBs that are playing a high line as the sole defenders.
Any updates on what he had for dinner?
mcdonald’s drive-thru. made him park in one of the bays whilst they brought it out to him. although the temptation was there, he was too professional to crank one out whilst he waited.
I find McDonald's are a bit too quick these days, whilst at KFC you have a good few minutes.
and they even put those handy wet wipes in the bag for you to mop yourself up with before you eat your chicken. it’s a classy affair.
I find doing it after is easier, the grease really helps things along.
I'm surprised they didn't appoint Jürgen Klopp. I assume he turned down the move?
Reality is kicking in.
He had to rest (remaining) key players at some point, today that didn't end well.
Lost 4-2 to Osasuna today. You love to see it.
Ridiculous starting 11, there are a lot of injuries, it wasn't the time to start resting players. Better off resting a few in a home game. Osasuna away is tricky
Needs to have a think in the shower
After the '09 and '11 CL final losses, the constant diving and playacting, the referee bribing scandal and the worship of Saint Pep, I take great satisfaction in every Barcelona loss.
Osasuna away is a harder game than Young Boys will be. Strange time to rotate.
They need to collect points in th CL whereas they have been spotless so far in the league, and will still be ahead even if Real wins the Madrid derby. The defeat was pretty bad but the timing isnt really.
Not really, they're still gonna win the league IMO. Madrid's front three is unbalanced, their midfield is far from perfect IMO, and Flick is a better tactician than Ancelotti. If that Bernal kid hadn't torn his ACL I'd be 99% sure in Barca winning La Liga this season.
Also, the gap was never really that big between Madrid and them as the masses would've had you believe in the last 2-3 years.
Having said all that, I do think Flick made a big mistake yesterday with that lineup.
I’ll bite, is there any justification for this?
I'd say Flick is better at implementing possession based, attacking, dominating football, even in big games vs strong opponents, and is much more of an adherent of positional play and other tactical aspects pioneered mostly by Guardiola in modern day football.
Ancelotti is more of a pragmatic "balancer" and I think player quality heavily bails him out in games vs strong opponents.
If you've watched Madrid's CL games, especially in the knockout stage, ever since Ancelotti's reappointment in 2021, you should know what I'm talking about.
In 2022, they were dominated by PSG for at least 3 halves of football, but player quality and PSG's choking tendencies bailed them out. Same story against Chelsea and Manchester City, and arguably Liverpool in the final as well.
In 2023, they did well vs Liverpool and a weak Chelsea, but once again were utterly dominated by City in the semis.
And last season, even though they won the CL again, the performances were far from satisfactory IMO. They couldn't dominate Leipzig even at the Bernabeu, you could argue they were the worse team in that match. Man City then made them look like a Championship team for 120 minutes in the Etihad, and they were second best in the first leg at the Bernabeu as well. The semis vs Bayern went better, as I think they were arguably the better team over two legs, but they still needed a comical mistake from Neuer, and a ridiculous refereeing decision to disallow De Ligt's last minute goal in order for them to go through. And then, a bang average Dortmund team in the final was probably the better team in the first 60 minutes of the game. That Dortmund team wasn't even as good as our best sides of the last few years (namely 20/21 and 22/23) and yet they could've deservedly overcome Madrid in a CL final, which should only be possible if the vastly superior squad's tactical setup is not good enough.
Madrid don't really set up much more differently in big games than United did under Ole, which is a fine, pragmatic, and efficient approach, if you have an inferior squad, but with Madrid's team, you would expect that you shouldn't be made to look like Burnley or Southampton for 120 minutes at the Etihad, wouldn't you?
I haven't watched enough El Classicos and Madrid derbies in La Liga in recent years to comment on their domestic big game performances, but in the CL, it was unseen before, in my opinion, for a team to win 2 out of 3 Champions Leagues whilst not even being the best team in either campaign.
City barely scored a goal.
Barca also needs to adjust to conceiding 4 goals. After all, they are playing Bayern in less than 4 weeks.
Because you defended your box with 11 players for 120 minutes.
I do acknowledge Ancelotti as a managerial great, a great balancer, a great man-manager, but let's not act like a world class possession-based manager with a great squad cannot absolutely dominate and pin Ancelotti's Madrid back, and be the superior team over two legs, whatever the result is in the end. Madrid juju + the likes of Benzema, Vini, Modric, etc. and them converting every single chance delivered you two CL titles, but you weren't the best team in Europe.
I don't think there is any need to mention abstract masses manipulating the brains of RedCafe users. The difference in the results achieved is enough to build a formed opinion about the existing gap in the last 3 years.
I don't think the results tell the whole story, though. Madrid has been better in the last 3 years, but not by a landslide IMO.
I've seen a lot of people say that they expect Madrid to dominate Spain over Barcelona for the next 5-10 years. I don't see how that's a realistic expectation with the talent Barcelona have in their squad.
They can, and teams do dominate Ancelotti's team but so what?
They get knocked out and Madrid go on to win the competition. It's happened that many times that it is sustainable, it's not lucky and it's not 'juju'.
There's loads of managers that are probably better at implementing positional, possession based football than Ancelotti but are nowhere near him as a manager.
Exactly this.
It may have more to do with the deficiencies in Barcelona's finances. Unless they can be resolved it is going to become more difficult for them to register and retain talent each season. Madrid don't seem to be suffering the same pressures.
Results may not tell the whole story but they tell enough. Barcelona have lost 12 out of their last 26 games in CL, having played Europa League in two of the last three seasons, which is a huge failure for a club of their size. The defeat ratio of the last 26 games is 46,2% which contrasts with their previous 79 games in which this ratio was only 13.9%. Not only this ratio has been much bigger in the last seasons, it also happened against less strong sides.
Now, what calls my attention is how you make such a thoughtful analysis of Real Madrid's victories in CL in such a negative, albeit legitimate, way, but in order to say the gap between the clubs is not that big you seem to apply such a lax yardstick to Barcelona's defeats against much weaker opponents.
Domestically, Barcelona applied a very astute strategy by setting a very defensive side in order to win the league in 2023 but the difference in points in the two of the last three seasons when Barcelona did not win the league was 13 and 10 points respectively.
Of course we can go beyond ciphers and start watching all the games, included the ones you admitted did not pay enough attention to domestically, but if someone wanted to have a look at results only, I think it would be enough to form a solid opinion that the difference really was very large.
I agree with the broad strokes of your post, Rojofiam. I just think you are exaggerating a bit. Which is why you end up asking a question that is actually quite simple to answer (about the best team not winning the CL).
Real Madrid have been, undoubtedly, one of the top 2 teams in Europe over the last 3 seasons. They have won 2 league titles, 1 domestic cup, and 2 domestic supercups, as well as reaching the CL semis 3 times. The other top 2 team is Manchester City, who have won 3 league titles, a treble, and 2 CL semis. The rest of the European clubs have been behind due to internal turmoil (Bayern, Chelsea), finances (Inter, Barcelona, Juventus), end-of-cycle (Liverpool).
So the top 2 teams in Europe (City and RM) over the last 3 seasons have faced each other in the CL 3 times. City have a better record in terms of matches (2W3D1L) but lost a tie on penalties. As a result they won 1 CL title and RM won 2. Very simple, no mystery.
Real Madrid do not play the modern high-intensity pressing game, and suffer against opponents who can play this game, these opponents can press them off the pitch. The problem is that it's very hard for anyone to play this game consistently for 90+ minutes, because it is physically demanding and this is a physical sport. If Real Madrid can weather the storm, if they can prevent the opposition from scoring (or at least keep the scoreline low), then Real Madrid will be in better physical and mental shape in the last stages of the match, thus having opportunities to turn the result around. That's why many teams can seemingly outplay RM but ultimately fade and lose the tie.
City can play this way for 90 minutes, which is why they're the best team in the world and RM's most challenging opponent. But I don't think there's any shame in being comprehensively defeated by a top team every once in a while, and you can't base your game plan around maybe facing a team from a different league in European competition.
Now that's not to say RM always play well or it's part of any masterplan. But they lose matches. They lost against PSG, against Chelsea, against City.
Real Madrid have been, undoubtedly, one of the top 2 teams in Europe over the last 3 seasons. They have won 2 league titles, 1 domestic cup, and 2 domestic supercups, as well as reaching the CL semis 3 times. The other top 2 team is Manchester City, who have won 3 league titles, a treble, and 2 CL semis. The rest of the European clubs have been behind due to internal turmoil (Bayern, Chelsea), finances (Inter, Barcelona, Juventus), end-of-cycle (Liverpool).
So the top 2 teams in Europe (City and RM) over the last 3 seasons have faced each other in the CL 3 times. City have a better record in terms of matches (2W3D1L) but lost a tie on penalties. As a result they won 1 CL title and RM won 2. Very simple, no mystery.
Real Madrid do not play the modern high-intensity pressing game, and suffer against opponents who can play this game, these opponents can press them off the pitch. The problem is that it's very hard for anyone to play this game consistently for 90+ minutes, because it is physically demanding and this is a physical sport. If Real Madrid can weather the storm, if they can prevent the opposition from scoring (or at least keep the scoreline low), then Real Madrid will be in better physical and mental shape in the last stages of the match, thus having opportunities to turn the result around. That's why many teams can seemingly outplay RM but ultimately fade and lose the tie.
City can play this way for 90 minutes, which is why they're the best team in the world and RM's most challenging opponent. But I don't think there's any shame in being comprehensively defeated by a top team every once in a while, and you can't base your game plan around maybe facing a team from a different league in European competition.
Now that's not to say RM always play well or it's part of any masterplan. But they lose matches. They lost against PSG, against Chelsea, against City.
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I have great expectations
He's been terrific. Barca already have a much better style of play and score goals for fun.
Anyone got any experience buying Barcelona tickets? Looking for either...
Real Madrid at home - 11/05/25 - surely difficult one to get hold of tickets
Villareal at home - 18/05/25 - last home game of the season
Any help or advice please and thanks.
Real Madrid at home - 11/05/25 - surely difficult one to get hold of tickets
Villareal at home - 18/05/25 - last home game of the season
Any help or advice please and thanks.