Barcelona secured a colossal victory in the La Liga 2024-25 on October 27, Sunday, when they defeated Real Madrid away from home at the Santiago Bernabeu. This was the first El Clasico of the season and Barcelona established their supremacy as they handed a massive 4-0 defeat to the Los Blancos. With the win, Barcelona are now six points clean of Real Madrid in the La Liga 2024-25 points table and are favourites to win the league. After conceding defeat in both the El Clasicos played in the 2023-24, this can be considered as a massive comeback from the Blaugrana under the coaching of Hansi Flick. Real Madrid vs Barcelona Goals Highlights: Watch Robert Lewandowski’s Missed Hattrick, Lamine Yamal’s Banger and Kylian Mbappe’s Offside Attempts in El Clasico as Barca Thrash Los Blancos 4-0 in La Liga 2024-25.

Under Flick's coaching, a new intent can be spotted in Barcelona and they have been winning across competitions as they have now defeated both Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in a matter of days. A significant portion of credit for Barcelona's recent success goes to Hansi Flick and the changes he made in the club tactically and technically. In this article, we will see five changes made by Flick which changed the fate for Barcelona.

1. Vertical Movement With the Ball:

One key change that came in Barcelona's playing style has been their ability to progress the ball vertically up the pitch. Under the tenure of Xavi, Barcelona used to hold possession for longer spell but it seldom resulted in effective defence splitting pass as the opposition had enough time in hand to fall in structure. Under Flick, once the Barcelona players win the ball, they always try to find options to move the ball infront of them. This has resulted in more offensive threat when opposition is in transition.

2. Intensity on and off the ball:

Hansi Flick's coaching regime has changed Barcelona's intensity on and off the ball. Barcelona's new fitness coach, Julio Tous organised a special fitness training camp during the pre-season conditioning of the Barcelona players where they had double training sessions lasting two hours each. The physical part included rondos, strength exercises with bands, speed circuits, and a lot of running. All these has changed the intensity of the players on the field as they can now complete more actions on the field, win more duels and cover more ground without losing stamina. Lamine Yamal Hits Cristiano Ronaldo’s Iconic ‘Calma’ Celebration After Scoring in Real Madrid vs Barcelona La Liga 2024-25 Match.

3. Pressing Pattern, Trigger and Zone:

In the previous tenure of Xavi, the pressing pattern of Barcelona lacked organisation and commitment. Pressing being an important part of his tactical setup, gaps used to open between the lines and the opposition used to take it to their advantage. Flick has considered that and rather kept the lines of Barcelona compact and opted to play a high line of defence. He also changed the pattern and zone of press as he now has his players target opposition in the central area and force them to go wide reducing central threat. His team has also identified certain cues like a certain player receiving the ball or a ball going into a specific zone as triggers and initiate their press. All these has helped them gain better execution and effectiveness in their pressing.

4. High Defensive Line:

Barcelona didn't have a lot of defenders who were good in one-on-one defending. That is the reason they conceded a lot of goals last seasons when forwards ran at them head on. Identifying that and also considering that teamwork is Barcelona's strength, Hansi Flick employed a high line of defence. Their proximity to the midfield line and the central defensive midfielder along with their united movement while setting the offside trap has helped them execute their defensive plans well despite the risk of having a high defensive line.

5. Giving Importance to La Masia:

Unlike many other clubs, Barcelona has the advantage of having one of the best academies in the entire world with state-of-the-art facilities, coaches and legacy. Whatever happened in the club financially, La Masia has always stayed as permanent process in place with certain fundamental principles. Hansi Flick has noticed that and considering the limitations of the club budget wise, provided emphasis to young but educated talents from La Masia instead of big and expensive names on the market. With Flick's tactical structure and the fundamental principles of La Masia build on the same lines, youngsters like Marc Casado and Pau Cubarsi have found it easy to integrate into the system. This in turn has done wonders for them. Lamine Yamal Allegedly Faces Racial Abuse From Spectators at Santiago Bernabeu During Real Madrid vs Barcelona La Liga 2024-25 El Clasico, Los Blancos Release Statement Condemning Behaviour of Fans (Watch Video).

For the last few years, Barcelona has not been the club that have made the right choices on or off the field. Their financial management, decision making, coach recruitment, player policies, nothing has been good and the club suffered across competitions despite having occasional success. Now under Hansi Flick it finally seems like a step in the positive direction. For that, the contribution of the changes made by Flick also plays a big role.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 27, 2024 06:53 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).