Tester Team ME Win % PPG AGF AGA GD PL W D L
elmilanista84 Barcelona 24.3 89% 2.76 3.5 0.5 2.97 38 34 3 1

After being Barcelona's coach for two years, the blaugrana former player and legend Xavi Hernandez decided to quit his job. To replace him, Barcelona chose former Bayern Munich treble winner and German national team manager Hansi Dieter Flick. Hansi Flick's Bayern was the team that handed Barcelona the most humiliating defeat in its history—an 8-2 loss in the quarterfinals of the 2019-2020 UEFA Champions League. It's interesting that the Blaugrana management has now chosen the very same German manager. Flick has not overhauled the existing structure in order to avoid destabilizing the team's confidence. However, he has made some adjustments to how Barcelona plays in the opponent's half. While under Xavi, the team aimed to score with a patient build-up and possession-focused approach, with Flick we are seeing great speed in offensive plays, with constant movement from the four attackers (the three offensive midfielders plus the striker Lewandowski), whose rotations are meant to confuse opponents and disrupt their defensive structure. Having players skilled in one-on-one situations, like Yamal, Raphinha, and Dani Olmo, on the field at the same time contributes to creating numerical superiority both on the flanks and in central areas (in front of the opponent’s box), forcing defenders to choose whom to mark and consequently leaving another player unmarked. We saw this in the 4-0 win against Real Madrid, where, despite the pressing by Real’s players and Ancelotti’s compact 4-4-2 formation to cover central spaces, the wings were crucial in the moves leading to Barcelona’s goals. Another key aspect of Barcelona’s new style under Flick is the defensive phase: Flick wants high, continuous pressing to quickly regain possession and launch fast counterattacks from the opponent’s half, thereby creating goal-scoring opportunities more easily. Such a high defensive line, often with all four defenders in the opponent’s half, does expose Barcelona to counterattacks from long passes out of the back or by the opposing goalkeeper, especially if the opposition forwards are very quick. Therefore, the perfect execution of the offside trap is crucial. In the match against Real Madrid, despite Mbappe’s great speed—far faster than Barcelona’s defenders—the French forward was caught offside multiple times and had two goals disallowed. II recreated Hansi Flick’s tactics on Football Manager 2024, and in my youtube video, in the highlights from my season with Barcelona, you’ll see the same tactical situations as in real life mirrored in the game. We won three trophies (La Liga, Spanish Cup and Supercup) and got knocked out at #uefachampionsleague quarter final by Bayer Leverkusen. We scored 133 goals in Spanish La Liga and allowed only 23. 



Test Results


Barcelona

elmilanista84
2 months ago
8 hours ago
14
ME Win % PPG AGF AGA GD PL W D L
24.3 89% 2.76 3.5 0.5 2.97 38 34 3 1


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