Barcelona’s Hansi Flick has response to Atletico Madrid comeback, settles on starting XI

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick said that he would have to ‘speak with the players’ after his side drew with Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night, conceding two goals in the first six minutes and two goals in the final ten minutes. However the message is clear: Barcelona will not be stepping off.

After the game Inigo Martinez noted that his side needed to be smarter with the ball and make less mistakes, while Pedri noted that ‘if we can’t press, then we need to take drop the line a little’. Flick himself was frustrated with the defending in the closing stages, and noted that Alexander Sorloth’s equaliser ‘seemed incredible to me’. On Thursday, it was reported that one of the players who has made his way into Flick’s bad books was Frenkie de Jong, who he asked to be stronger when defending.

Much of the debate in the aftermath was around Flick’s approach, and whether Barcelona might not have been better off playing a little more conservatively and hanging onto their lead in the final stages. That is not how Flick saw the matter though, as per Sport. The German manager will double down on his ideas, and has no intention of dropping deeper and conceding territory.

He is also aware that one of the weak points of his system and of Barcelona currently is the full-back area. Alejandro Balde has improved a lot, especially in his decision-making, but Flick has noticed that opponents tend to try and get in behind Jules Kounde often, and one the tasks on his to-do list is to strengthen that area.

The high line is non-negotiable though, and the Catalan daily note that this goes for Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martinez too. Despite the return to fitness of Eric Garcia, Andreas Christensen and Ronald Araujo, they will remain the preferred options for central defence for the rest of the season. Ahead of them, de Jong and Dani Olmo are also in his ideal XI, and feels that Barcelona have taken a step forward with the Dutchman present. Flick has his ideal starting line-up, and no intention of changing it between now and the rest of the season.