Hansi Flick will seek to maintain the good streak of the Barça coaches in his debut in the League

FC Barcelona will debut in LaLiga 2024/25 this Saturday at Mestalla in what will be Hansi Flick's first official match on the Barça bench. The German will seek to leave behind the weak image offered in the Joan Gamper Trophy with a victory against Valencia that extends the good streak of the debutant Barcelona coaches in the League. With the exception of the interim coaches, nine of eleven coaches won in their debut in the tournament, Xavi Hernández being the last to do so.

The one from Terrassa debuted with a narrow victory against Espanyol (1-0), a result identical to the one Quique Setién had obtained in his first league match. The Cantabrian debuted with a victory against Granada (1-0), just as Frank Rijkaard did in 2003 in San Mamés (0-1). The other coach who began his cycle with a narrow victory was Lorenzo Serra Ferrer, with a 2-1 win against Málaga in the summer of 2000.

Flick will seek to emulate the debuts of Tata Martino and Tito Vilanova

Of the nine technicians who won their debut, those who obtained the best results were Gerardo Martino and Francesc Vilanova. 'Tata' arrived in LaLiga with a resounding victory against Levante in 2013 (7-0). A year before, Tito had debuted with a 'little hand' for Real Sociedad (5-1) in a season that ended with the championship and a record of points for the culés (100).

For his part, Ronald Koeman was also able to make his debut with a win, in his case against Villarreal in 2020 (4-0). Another who made his debut scoring in the League was Luis Enrique. A decade ago, the Asturian appeared at Camp Nou with a comfortable victory over Elche (3-0). More discreet was the first game of his successor, Ernesto Valverde, in 2017, with a 2-0 against Betis against the man who would replace him on the bench in January 2020, Quique Setién.

Guardiola, the only one who debuted with defeat in the Barça of the 21st century

Of the eleven Barça coaches who have made their debut this century, the only one who did so with a defeat was Pep Guardiola. The Catalan made his debut in the League, losing as a visitor against Numancia in 2009 (0-1) and, curiously, he could not win in his first match at Camp Nou (1-1 against Racing). The other culé who could not win in his debut was Radomir Antic, who in 2003 began his brief cycle with a draw at home against Athletic (2-2). As for the German coaches, the precedents are also positive. Both Hennes Weisweiler and Udo Lattek debuted by winning against Elche (2-3) and Cádiz (4-0).