Mourinho dismantles Barcelona's trap: an alarm bell for Flick's system
Barcelona can no longer count on their usual style alone to see off Real Madrid in the Clasico. Signs of a striking shift in how Los Blancos approach Hansi Flick's ideas have begun to emerge.
Small details are changing from one meeting to the next. They raise a far bigger question about the German coach's ability to keep his side ahead of their fierce rivals.
Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 at the Camp Nou yesterday, and in their report on the game, Mundo Deportivo compared Flick's clashes with Real Madrid's coaches: Mourinho, Xabi Alonso and Carlo Ancelotti. The paper revealed a notable improvement for Los Blancos under the Portuguese.
The Spanish newspaper said: "Real Madrid no longer fall into the offside trap on which Hansi Flick relies with the same ease, and Mourinho succeeded in reducing Barcelona's possession of the ball, in indications that reflect the development of the Royal club from one encounter to the next, compared to the spells of Carlo Ancelotti and Xabi Alonso."
Flick has lost just two of his eight Clasicos against Real Madrid across all competitions. One came against Alonso's side at the Santiago Bernabeu exactly a year ago, a 2-1 defeat. The other came yesterday, against Mourinho's Real Madrid.
The numbers lay bare how differently Real Madrid now handle Flick's offside trap. Ancelotti's players were caught offside 12 times in the 4-0 drubbing on 26 October 2024, yet that figure dropped to a single instance in the Spanish Super Cup final Barcelona won two months later.
In the one Clasico under Alonso, Real Madrid were flagged offside five times. That tally fell to just three in the latest meeting with Mourinho's side.
Real Madrid's progress: an alarm bell for Flick
These figures reflect Real Madrid's ability to learn and adapt to Barcelona's defensive style. The development went beyond dealing with the high defensive line. Mourinho also managed to cut Barcelona's possession, even though his approach is theoretically more defensive than Alonso's.
Real Madrid's possession rose from 31.5% against Barcelona a year ago to 37.8% in yesterday's Clasico, and their pass count climbed from 274 to 380 after Bernardo Silva and Arda Guler came on.
Mundo Deportivo concluded: "These figures place Barcelona before a clear challenge; with their opponents developing and able to find solutions to their style, Flick's side must in turn develop its performance, so that its usual strengths do not turn into an equation that Real Madrid can easily handle."
