Barça’s football identity is marked in modern times by the figure of the midfielder and the wingers, especially since the arrival of Cruyff. El Flaco lined up Milla as the central midfielder in his debut and ended up putting Lineker on the right side so that Julio Salinas could act at the point of attack. The English striker never liked the band, nor did Rivaldo like it in Van Gaal’s time, while it was a place of passage for Messi when Guardiola was already in charge and the place from which Ronaldinho dazzled during Rijkaard’s era and more. afternoon Neymar with Luis Enrique. The player who now makes the difference from the right wing at 17 years old is Lamine Yamal while Flick opted for Casadó as a midfielder after Marc Bernal’s injury.
Lamine is injured in his right ankle and Barcelona will have to face Atlético in a decisive match without wingers if it is taken into account that Raphinha is a substitute wide player just like some of Barça’s foreigners were. The absence of the Spanish international striker is especially significant because, when he has not been on the field, Barcelona did not win any of the four games in play (three losses and one draw) and instead added 12 victories out of 14 (drawing one and losing against Leganés) when he participated in the League match. “Lamine is differential, it generates a lot, it attracts one or two rivals, it creates more gaps and spaces,” says Iñigo Martínez. Ferran Torres adds: “It is decisive.” And Pedri concludes: “It gives us a lot.”
Statistics ensure that Lamine is the player who gives the most assists in the League (9), according to Opta data. Also the one who attempts the most dribbles (112), ahead of Nico Williams (92), Vinicius (92) and Mbappé (90), and the one who completes them the most with 51, eight more than Lukébakio (43), 12 than Vinicius ( 39) and 14 than Mbappé (37). And he leads the percentage of dribbles attempted per game with 7% compared to 6.57% for Vinicius, 6.31% for Nico Williams and 6% for Mbappé. Lamine’s records are only compared in the five major European Leagues with those of Kudus (West Ham) and Saka (Arsenal). Flick has not found a solution for Lamine’s loss after trying Fermín, Ferran, Olmo and Pablo Torre and, depending on the circumstances, changing sides to Raphinha.
In the absence of activation training this Saturday, the coach’s intention seems to be to initially dispense with Olmo, give Gavi the starting job in the midfield and line up Raphinha, Lewandowski and Fermín in attack. A formula that results even more in the lack of wingers or players capable of acting on both sides of the Barça attack if one takes into account that Ferran and Ansu Fati appear in the squad and that they would initially appear as substitutes against Atlético. The last two games, ended with two defeats against Las Palmas and Leganés, resulted in Barça’s difficulty in attacking a closed defense and generating chances even in Montjüic.
The Blaugrana like to press and run, steal the ball and throw the offside line, act as a unit, virtues that disappear when the opponent does not give them space or press around the dividing line, very aware of their area and of changes of orientation and shooting diagonals from the wings to surprise Barcelona’s defenders. Flick’s team has not known how to open the field, nor cross crosses or encourage arrivals from the second line or shots for one or two forwards, excessively paying attention to the inside play of Casadó, Pedri and Olmo. Nor have the full-backs, and especially Balde, helped to defend and deepen or charge the area in order to create opportunities for Lewandowski or Pau Víctor.
Flick’s intervention is presented as essential to reactivate a team that has only added five points from the last 18 and has allowed Atlético to subtract 10 from matchday 11 of the League. The football arranged until now by the German coach has further enhanced verticality and, on the other hand, he has had to adjust to a reduced roster of footballers, with no winger other than Lamine. This explains why the Barça club tried to sign Nico Williams in the summer. The lack of money and the striker’s decision to remain at Athletic made the agreement impossible and led to the incorporation of Olmo, an offensive midfielder who had an explosive debut only to decline in his physical performance since the injury suffered in Girona.
“The team that makes the fewest mistakes wins,” summarized Flick, who foresees “a great game” against Atlético after having given his players two days of rest to recover the intensity lost at the start when the extremes were not repaired and sublimated Lamine.
