Exposed in the Clásico: can Atlético exploit Flick's chronic weakness to beat Barcelona again?
The horror scenario haunting Barça
Barcelona, under the German Hansi Flick, were reaping the rewards of their absolute faith in an attacking style. Two consecutive La Liga titles, the Super Cup and the Copa del Rey all arrived on merit. Yet a hefty bill for this unconditional enthusiasm has begun to land.
Since Flick's arrival, the goal the Catalan side most frequently concede against elite teams has followed a pattern learned by heart, exploiting with excessive skill the permanent and exaggerated advancement of Barcelona's defensive line.
Atlético Madrid, who prepare to face Barcelona in 10 days in a top-of-the-table La Liga clash, are the clearest example of a team that has learned the lesson and applied it to perfection.
Watch Barcelona under Flick, the latest case being the Clásico against Real Madrid, and you spot the same killer goals in the final minutes, even when the team leads. The recipe barely changes: a long or crossing pass that breaks the advanced defensive line to hit the space behind the full-back, followed by a quick vertical run from the striker in behind to finish the attack.
This high-risk equation, which Flick has not known how to balance, has borne fruit in particular against Atlético Madrid since 2024, according to "Mundo Deportivo".
The night at Montjuïc: the beginning
Matchday 18 of the 2024-2025 season at the Montjuïc stadium was decisive for top spot. The score stood at 1-1 until the 96th minute, a result that kept Barcelona top. Then Flick's insistence on pressing for the win threw the door wide open.
Diego Simeone pounced on the Catalan boldness. Nahuel Molina broke clear unmarked down the right flank and sent a low cross to the far post, which Íñigo Martínez and Pau Cubarsí could not intercept, and Alexander Sørloth tucked it away with one touch into the net of Iñaki Peña, ending 2024 on top.
Pedri's warning that went unheard
The scene repeated itself on 25 February 2025 in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final. Barcelona led 4-2 in the 75th minute, then 4-3 in the 93rd. Their defence sat literally in the middle of the pitch, a long pass to the left wing left Samuel Lino unmarked, and he teed up the merciless Sørloth to score the 4-4 equaliser past Wojciech Szczęsny.
Pedri issued an explicit warning after that night: "It happened to us in the league, and it is happening again now. We have to be careful, we must learn how to keep possession and not push our defensive line like this in the final minutes".
Nobody listened. In the first leg of the 2025-2026 Copa del Rey semi-final on 13 February 2026, Atlético thrashed Barcelona 4-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano, the third and fourth goals coming from the same scenario: crosses from the flanks and runs in behind, signed by Ademola Lookman and Julián Álvarez.
Europe served up the same tragedy in the Champions League quarter-final of that season. In the 44th minute with the score at 0-0, Álvarez slipped the ball through to the unmarked Giuliano Simeone, Cubarsí was sent off for the foul, and Álvarez scored from the free kick.
After the break, with the defence close to goalkeeper Joan García, Sørloth's goal came from a Matteo Ruggeri cross on the left. In the return leg, despite Barcelona going 2-0 up early, Atlético's goal reducing the gap to 2-1 came from a classic counter-attack in the 30th minute that looked as if it were in the 90th: a cross from Marcos Llorente to Lookman.
The phenomenon is not limited to Atlético
Atlético have benefited the most. They are not the only ones. In the Champions League group stage, Barcelona drew 1-1 with Paris Saint-Germain at Montjuïc in the 90th minute before losing 2-1 to a goal of the same pattern: defence in the middle of the pitch, a pass from Vitinha to Achraf Hakimi on the right, a well-executed cross to Gonçalo Ramos.
Nothing stung more than the return leg of the 2024-2025 Champions League semi-final against Inter Milan. Barcelona scored the goal to qualify for the final in the 88th minute, then in the 93rd, while pressing for more, Marcus Thuram received the ball and fed Denzel Dumfries, who got past Gerard Martín to cross for Acerbi, who scored the 3-3 and sent Inter to the final.
Flick has long blamed a lack of concentration or a loss of energy, as he did after the latest Clásico, clinging to an unconditional attacking style. It is the very style that other coaches from the Barcelona school, Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique among them, toned down by activating safety zones and protocols that account for individual errors.
With Flick, the idea remains one-sided. He takes no context into account beyond sticking to the plan: attack with an always-advanced defensive line. Its success therefore depends entirely on the absolute tactical and technical excellence of all the players and their avoidance of any mistake, which is impossible in modern football.
