Hansi Flick is having a dream start to the season with FC Barcelona in 2024/25. On Saturday, the German coach was able to celebrate his first Clásico in style with a rout against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu (0-4). Carlo Ancelotti's men arrived unbeaten in 42 games and were crushed in an almost perfect second half by the Barça team.
The Heidelberg coach repeated the XI from Tuesday against Bayern Munich and, once again, the team opted for high pressing and reducing the spaces between the lines to nullify the verticality that distinguishes the 'merengues'. The 'White House' forwards were offside a dozen times, in a true tactical 'master class' by Barça to neutralize the runs of Vinicius and Kylian Mbappé.
Although in the first half it was difficult for Barça to reach the rival area with danger, the team maintained its composure, with only a yellow card for Marc Casadó just before the break. The '17' was impeccable in his recovery alongside Pedri, but Flick noticed some inaccuracies from Fermín López and, during halftime, he made a tweak to the lineup that ended up tipping the balance in favor of the Catalan team.
The entry of Frenkie de Jong, key to the great second half of Barça
The coach put Frenkie de Jong on for Fermín, moving several meters ahead of Pedri to improve the pressure in the center of the field. The Dutchman entered the game very well, canceling out the work of Tchouaméni and Camavinga near the central circle to give more depth to each Barça attack.
In the 54th minute, Casadó caught Lewandowski's diagonal and the Pole, enabled by Mendy, did not fail in the one-on-one against Lunin. Two minutes later, it was Balde who assisted the Pole to extend the lead, after passing into De Jong's space to dismantle a completely broken 'Merengue' defense. From there, Barça controlled the match at will, beyond some clear chances by Mbappé neutralized by Iñaki Peña.
The culés exploited the spaces in the Madrid backline and, through Lamine and Raphinha, sealed an indisputable victory that could even have been bigger if Lewandowski had been more accurate with his shots on goal.
Ancelotti's experiment with Bellingham failed again
While everything went well for Flick, night fell very early for 'Carletto' in Chamartín. The Italian wanted to shield the right side, a weak point in the white defense due to the loss of Dani Carvajal, placing Jude Bellingham near Lucas Vázquez to give the '17' a hand.
The Englishman delivered in the first half, blocking several attacks from Balde and Raphinha, but he showed wear and tear in the second half and, once again, ended up lost on the field, unable to contribute anything in attack. Ancelotti looked for a reaction in his team by putting Modric in for Tchouaméni, but the change only exacerbated the 'merengues' problems in the half.
In the end, Hansi's tactical review of Carlo was notable, but the German, true to his custom, was cautious in celebrating the victory. "I always say that we like to improve. Today was not easy, but we defended well. We trust in our idea, but we have to continue," said the coach. Certainly, Barça is still far from the titles, but the path outlined so far seems to lay firm foundations to experience a great 2025 in Catalonia.