Barca lost their rhythm after El Clasico: Hansi Flick and the Yamal problem.
Barca have lost 3 of their last 5 matches, including a 1-2 defeat at the Bernabeu; Hansi Flick is banned from the touchline and appears to be under pressure; Lamine Yamal is a hot spot for both discipline and tactics.
Barca are off-key right from the start of the season: losing 3 of their last 5 matches, including a 1-2 defeat to Real Madrid at the Bernabeu. From the stands, banned from coaching, Hansi Flick watched his team's pressing, once a trademark of last season, crumble, while Lamine Yamal became the focal point of both tactical and dressing room discussions.
Bernabeu: A moment of extreme tension.
The weekend at the Bernabeu was a spectacle that extended beyond the 90 minutes of play. Joan Laporta was in the stands at a time when his alliance with Florentino Perez and the Super League project were fractured. On the pitch, Yamal endured the shouts of Vinicius, Dani Carvajal, and Thibaut Courtois, while Flick watched from the technical area while serving a touchline ban.
The El Clasico ended with a 2-1 victory for Real Madrid. According to reports, Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe scored, while Yamal was ineffective and involved in a clash. This was a stark contrast to his performance last season.
Tactics: Pressing has become disjointed after 13 matches.
Johan Cruyff once said: the second season is always the hardest. After 13 games this season, Flick's Barca hasn't been running smoothly despite not making major personnel changes. The focus still revolves around Yamal, but the pressing and disengagement structure is no longer synchronized.
Before El Clasico, Flick dedicated the entire training session to pressing and escaping the press. However, in the match, what Barca showed crumbled at crucial moments. Last season, even when trailing after the 80th minute, Barca still instilled belief in their ability to come back. This season, the paradox emerged: they were more vulnerable, and the feeling of "only being able to lose" gradually crept into the stands.
The dressing room: discipline and a fragile boundary line with Yamal.
The most serious problem lay with Lamine Yamal. The coaching staff felt the young player was flying too high, sometimes ignoring internal rules. Flick accepted that psychological management could be handled by someone else, but he was dissatisfied with the club's overprotective behavior. The public reminder – "Yamal needs to focus and work harder" – served as both a message and a disciplinary boundary.
Flick fears that if Barca lose control of the dressing room, they will be unable to restore the fighting spirit that helped them maintain the intensity and discipline of last season. This concern is even more apparent after a run of three defeats in their last five matches against Real Madrid, Sevilla, and PSG.
Pressure from many sides: the national team, referees, and internal club issues.
In recent days, Flick has been embroiled in controversy with the Spanish Football Federation and coach Luis de la Fuente over the fact that an 18-year-old player was forced to play in a "meaningless" match in Türkiye. Sources in Barcelona suggest that for Flick – a former head coach of the German national team – this is "unacceptable." Conversely, Yamal wanted to play to beat Arda Guler and had no complaints about his fitness.
Flick has also expressed dissatisfaction with refereeing in La Liga, arguing that Champions League referees communicate more clearly. But Barca once benefited from a VAR malfunction against Rayo Vallecano – a detail that serves as a reminder that the line between injustice and technological error is very thin.
Internal club issues further complicated matters: chaotic summer player registrations, delays in returning to Camp Nou (having to play at a rented training ground called Montjuic), and conflicts between the medical and recovery departments. In one instance, a player was named in the matchday squad but then sat on the bench for the entire game just to appease the conflict, as no one dared confirm their readiness.
Hansi Flick's tension and escape.
From the Joan Gamper training center, sources confirmed: "He's perfectly fine, he loves the club and the city." Flick himself explained his impulsive actions in Girona after Araujo's late goal as simply "loving the club." But those who know him call it a way to mask his tension: Flick is trying to blend in with the team to hide his insecurity.
In the media spotlight, Yamal continues to be celebrated – named among the 26 nominees for the 2024/25 Team of the Year, as voted by the players – while Vinicius is absent. But on the pitch, Yamal's maturity must come from discipline and teamwork. For Barca, the solution lies not in headlines, but in the speed of restoring their pressing structure and a well-organized dressing room.
Last season showed Flick could create an explosive Barca. This season demands something more difficult: managing emotions, tightening discipline, and getting Yamal back on track – so that the Bernabeu match becomes a wake-up call, not the turning point of a declining season.
