{"id":118015,"date":"2024-10-25T00:55:50","date_gmt":"2024-10-24T17:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=118015"},"modified":"2024-10-25T00:55:50","modified_gmt":"2024-10-24T17:55:50","slug":"barcelona-and-hansi-flick-signal-the-start-of-a-brave-new-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=118015","title":{"rendered":"Barcelona and Hansi Flick signal the start of a brave new era"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>It was a victory, you sensed, that might be considered year zero when <a class=\"ath_autolink\" data-id=\"657\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/football\/team\/fc-barcelona\/\">Barcelona<\/a> next enjoy a sustained run of success.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis type of match will never be forgotten,\u201d said <a class=\"ath_autolink\" data-id=\"a5efFceOARuL0px2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/football\/player\/raphinha-a5efFceOARuL0px2\/\">Raphinha<\/a>, Barcelona\u2019s captain and hat-trick hero. It wasn\u2019t simply about winning 4-1 against strong opposition in the <a class=\"ath_autolink\" data-id=\"7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/football\/champions-league\/\">Champions League<\/a>, but about how it was done, who achieved it, and who were defeated.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the first half in particular, Barcelona used an almost comedically aggressive defensive line, which brought to mind the Netherlands side Johan Cruyff played in 50 years ago, never mind the Barca side he coached 30 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Barca achieved the win with a total of nine players from La Masia \u2014 granted, when including the returning <a class=\"ath_autolink\" data-id=\"uJjcASNa2MtYTjEd\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/football\/player\/dani-olmo-uJjcASNa2MtYTjEd\/\">Dani Olmo<\/a>, the only major summer signing. And it was against Bayern Munich, the club who Pep Guardiola effectively defected to, the club who have such a strong record against Barca, the club who humbled them 8-2 four years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Barcelona only paid them back at a rate of 50 per cent for that loss, but that was enough to produce scenes of genuine jubilation in the stands. This will surely be remembered as their most momentous victory during this temporary stay at the Olympic Stadium on Montjuic.<\/p>\n<p><iframe style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.podcasts.apple.com\/gb\/podcast\/misery-loves-kompany-as-barca-blast-bayern\/id1677588464?i=1000674217550\" height=\"175\" frameborder=\"0\" sandbox=\"allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The challenge of facing Barcelona at the Camp Nou, it was often said, was the famously \u2018big pitch\u2019. But that was something of a fallacy; the range of pitch sizes permitted for UEFA competitions is pretty slender and the \u2018big pitch\u2019 was primarily an optical illusion. The Camp Nou was so vast, and therefore the camera angle so vertical, that the pitch seemed so much bigger on television. More pertinently, Barcelona toyed with the opposition in terms of geometry, stretching play with the ball, and leaving space in behind without the ball.<\/p>\n<p>The Olympic Stadium gives a different type of illusion. A converted athletics stadium means there\u2019s a yawning gap, around 50 yards, behind the goal and the nearest supporters behind it. And as if to emphasise how removed the supporters are from the action, there are often no outfielders in an entire half of the pitch. Barcelona have long played with a high defensive line, but this season they are taking it to new extremes.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s no great surprise considering the identity of their manager. Hansi Flick was in charge of Bayern for that 8-2 win and subsequent European Cup success and the positioning of that side\u2019s defensive line felt revolutionary in this modern era, with the liberal interpretation of the offside law. At times, Flick\u2019s Bayern seemed to be opening themselves up to the simplest of attacks, yet they played with enough cohesion to step up at the right time and to drop off and cover the space.<\/p>\n<p>In a way, what Flick is doing with Barcelona is even braver, with less experienced defenders and <a class=\"ath_autolink\" data-id=\"z7iaI4iReQa0czDc\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/football\/player\/inaki-pena-z7iaI4iReQa0czDc\/\">Inaki Pena<\/a>, something of a novice, in goal. But the philosophy remains clear, as summarised by Raphinha. \u201cWe knew that the further away from our goal we could be, the better for us,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>Statistics from the major five European leagues this season show that Barcelona are almost playing a different ball game from everyone else. Not only do they catch the opposition offside far more regularly than any of the other 95 teams, but they are close to the top in terms of through-balls played in behind the opposition. In other words, Barcelona allow space in behind at one end and exploit space in behind at the other.<\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"flourish-embed-iframe\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 800px;\" title=\"Interactive or visual content\" src=\"https:\/\/flo.uri.sh\/visualisation\/19929380\/embed\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-scripts allow-downloads allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As if to underline the risk of playing that way, the only side to have played through-balls more than them this season are Bayern.<\/p>\n<p>But Barcelona didn\u2019t compromise, with the defenders pushing so high that at times they were practically on top of the two central midfielders, almost in a 6-0-4 shape\u2026<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5868921 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2024\/10\/24024940\/export-63-1.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The game was effectively summarised within the first minute. After 20 seconds, Barcelona\u2019s defensive line stepped up and caught multiple Bayern players offside \u2014 they would have been warned about this in their video analysis but still seemed surprised at the level of aggression when they encountered it.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5868914 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2024\/10\/24024729\/export-58.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>That prompted a Manuel Neuer long ball to no one and a turnover of possession. Then Barcelona attacked quickly, breaking in behind, with Raphinha released.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5868916 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2024\/10\/24024745\/export-59.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Demonstrating Bayern\u2019s man-marking, the player closest to Raphinha was central midfielder <a class=\"ath_autolink\" data-id=\"IPG8gQvhh3M1zHWa\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/football\/player\/joshua-kimmich-IPG8gQvhh3M1zHWa\/\">Joshua Kimmich<\/a>. The defensive line itself was even further away.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5868917 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2024\/10\/24024807\/export-60.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Raphinha went on to become the star man, bagging a hat-trick while wearing the captain\u2019s armband. His second goal featured him cutting inside from wide and finishing and his hat-trick goal was a combination of the previous two.<\/p>\n<p>But it was that opening goa that summarised Raphinha\u2019s role this season most concisely; although sometimes shifted out wide, he\u2019s thrived in a central No 10 role, making runs off <a class=\"ath_autolink\" data-id=\"1zm2L0TuehI6gx0H\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/football\/player\/robert-lewandowski-1zm2L0TuehI6gx0H\/\">Robert Lewandowski<\/a> and in behind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve never had a player like Raphinha because he\u2019s incredibly dynamic with and without the ball,\u201d said Flick. \u201cHis speed is fantastic. This kind of player, every single team needs him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The timing of his runs, more than anything else, has proved so effective, in part because he starts them from deep. And this was the perfect game for a player with that ability.<\/p>\n<p>Never mind the goals, look at this situation towards the end of the first half, when the play was so compressed with two high defensive lines that Raphinha was both a centre-back\u2026<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5868918 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2024\/10\/24024834\/export-65.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u2026 and then a centre-forward, within the space of four seconds, because there was only about 25 yards to run between the two positions.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5868920 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2024\/10\/24024848\/export-66.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Raphinha is one of only three non-Spaniards who featured, alongside Lewandowski and right-back <a class=\"ath_autolink\" data-id=\"eNFXh1X41fiInMxq\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/football\/player\/jules-kounde-eNFXh1X41fiInMxq\/\">Jules Kounde<\/a>. A curious element of Flick\u2019s transformation of Barca is that he doesn\u2019t speak Spanish or Catalan, so conducts training sessions in English \u2014 which several members of Barca\u2019s first team admit they don\u2019t fully understand.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe that shows that the language barrier isn\u2019t an issue because Flick and his players have the same natural understanding of football.<\/p>\n<p>This seems a truly gifted La Masia generation. <a class=\"ath_autolink\" data-id=\"iSEwD7d7OANoDH9p\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/football\/player\/pau-cubarsi-iSEwD7d7OANoDH9p\/\">Pau Cubarsi<\/a> is 17 and outstanding. Holding midfielder <a class=\"ath_autolink\" data-id=\"HZy94NmN4RsLd7wD\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/football\/player\/marc-casado-HZy94NmN4RsLd7wD\/\">Marc Casado<\/a>, 21, reads the game wonderfully. <a class=\"ath_autolink\" data-id=\"OZdQ6VtzI3V3Yt4N\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/football\/player\/fermin-lopez-OZdQ6VtzI3V3Yt4N\/\">Fermin Lopez<\/a> is another 21-year-old and times his runs intelligently. <a class=\"ath_autolink\" data-id=\"3g7COHNXo2cn0MN2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/football\/player\/pedri-3g7COHNXo2cn0MN2\/\">Pedri<\/a> and the returning <a class=\"ath_autolink\" data-id=\"9ACowrmXJKJKTUi5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/football\/player\/gavi-9ACowrmXJKJKTUi5\/\">Gavi<\/a>, 21 and 20 respectively, almost feel like the veterans of the side. And, in this form, it\u2019s impossible not to look at <a class=\"ath_autolink\" data-id=\"L4F8ZjgE044AW9rb\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/football\/player\/lamine-yamal-L4F8ZjgE044AW9rb\/\">Lamine Yamal<\/a> and think of <a class=\"ath_autolink\" data-id=\"HlEFpLdbHt68CnvJ\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/football\/player\/lionel-messi-HlEFpLdbHt68CnvJ\/\">Lionel Messi<\/a>, who was not on this level when he was 17.<\/p>\n<div class=\"go-deeper\">\n<div class=\"go-deeper-img\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/5726282\/2024\/09\/05\/pau-cubarsi-barcelona-la-liga-la-masia\/\" class=\"go-deeper\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2024\/08\/27103551\/GettyImages-2166567783-1-1024x683.jpg?width=128&amp;height=128&amp;fit=cover&amp;auto=webp\" class=\"go-deeper\" alt=\"go-deeper\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>That inevitably prompts a question about how good Yamal will become and how good this Barcelona will be.<\/p>\n<p>But, for now, who cares? Yamal will inevitably suffer setbacks and so will Barca playing this high-risk football, but this was something to celebrate in itself: a convincing victory with aggressive football from a group of young academy products, and therefore surely the purest Barca win since the days of Guardiola.<\/p>\n<div class=\"go-deeper\">\n<div class=\"go-deeper-img\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/5868632\/2024\/10\/24\/raphinha-barcelona-bayern-hat-trick\/\" class=\"go-deeper\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2024\/10\/24023820\/GettyImages-2179684207-1024x691.jpg?width=128&amp;height=128&amp;fit=cover&amp;auto=webp\" class=\"go-deeper\" alt=\"go-deeper\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/5868905\/2024\/10\/24\/barcelona-and-hansi-flick-signal-the-start-of-a-brave-new-era\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was a victory, you sensed, that might be considered year zero when Barcelona next enjoy a sustained run of success. \u201cThis type of match will never be forgotten,\u201d said &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=118015\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=118015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118015\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=118015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=118015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=118015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}