The great tactical variant with which Hansi Flick revolutionized Barcelona in the duel against Brest

The FC Barcelona has returned to the path of victory, once again displaying its image as a dominant team. They scored three goals against an opponent who had not lost any matches in the current UEFA Champions League after four rounds and had only conceded three goals, showcasing themselves as one of the most defensively solid teams in the tournament. Despite this, the Blaugrana managed to overcome that solid fortress, largely thanks to an important tactical change in their starting lineup.

At this point, Barcelona had to reassess their ideas to get the team 'firing on all cylinders' again. Without Lamine Yamal, Hansi Flick had to reconfigure his offensive strategy. How did he achieve this? By constantly resorting to a concept that resonated in the 'Xavi era', the famous 'square'. This change in formation was prompted by the abundance of natural midfielders on the field.

What tactical variant did Hansi Flick introduce for the match against Stade Brestois?

Although nominally Barcelona started with a 4-2-3-1 formation, the scheme transformed on more than one occasion into a kind of 4-4-2. Why? This change was due to the distribution in the midfield area. While the core of the midfield remained the same, with Marc Casadó and Pedri González orchestrating the 'engine room' with great fluidity, especially the latter, who had a sublime performance against Stade Brestois, setting the pace of the game and standing out with some exceptional technical details, being even applauded when substituted.

Now, how did they revert to the famous 'square' of Xavi Hernández? Simple. Hansi Flick decided to position Dani Olmo more centrally, deploying him as an attacking midfielder instead of placing him as a left winger, as in the match against Celta Vigo (2-2), to fully exploit his creativity. The result? The Terrassa native performed at a stellar level, scoring a great goal and distributing the play with great ease, even venturing into the opponent's area on some occasions.

Additionally, the final piece that completed this 'square' was Fermín López, who started as a theoretical left winger but often moved into the midfield to create numerical advantages, also showcasing qualities of an attacking midfielder. The Huelva native became a threat in the attacking zone, helping to centralize play through the middle and providing support to the two most prominent attacking pieces, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha.

This strategy proved to be a definitive success and represents a new tactical solution for Hansi Flick, who has once again found the formula to revolutionize Barcelona. It also emerges as a valuable resource, especially when Lamine Yamal is unavailable, although his return is expected for the next match against UD Las Palmas (30/11) or RCD Mallorca (03/12).