Since taking the reins at FC Barcelona back in the summer of 2024, Hansi Flick has somehow managed to restore the team’s attacking flair. And going by the numbers, he’s getting the job done.
According to Opta data, nobody in Europe’s top five leagues has managed to find the back of the net more times than Barca (207) since Flick came on board, and only Paris Saint-Germain have created a higher non-penalty expected goals tally than Barca’s 158.5. And with a win rate under Flick sitting at 73.6%, it's the best among the big clubs.
But lurking just behind all that excitement is a pretty serious problem: Flick appears to be either unwilling or just unable to take a step back from his attack-first approach.
But the German seems to be okay with the compromise. There will be goals, and there will be fun. Barcelona will press high, suffocate opponents, and win lots of matches. But there will also be backtracks, times when the structure breaks down and the coverage breaks down.
A dazzling attack, a vulnerable defence
Barcelona’s attack is electric. But their defence is below the standard of the club. This season they have conceded 24 “big chances” in La Liga, and are among the 10 worst in Europe’s top 5 leagues in that metric.
They are more vulnerable to counterattacks: they face 1.36 shots per game from transitions (vs 1.05 last season) and concede 0.36 goals per game from those situations (up from 0.21) (Opta). The Blaugrana haven’t had a clean sheet in 10 games, their longest run since 2013.
Flick has defended his philosophy. After a 3–3 draw in the Champions League he said: “We can make it like this, that we make a low block and defend in the first third … Or we go on our way, our philosophy, how we want to do it and make things much better.”
But for many fans the issue is this: at a club like Barcelona, it’s not enough to say “this is who we are”. The identity must be sustainable in the biggest moments and the signs are that Flick’s version isn’t. The question has shifted from “how can we be more dynamic?” to “can we be less endangered?”
Barcelona’s repeated defensive lapses , especially against important opponents , suggest that Flick’s system lacks the contingency planning needed at the top level.
The problem is not just that Flick’s system sometimes breaks , it’s that he has shown little willingness to adjust it. At a time when margins are thin, Barcelona’s tactical rigidity becomes a weakness rather than a strength.