Did Hansi Flick get it right in Barcelona’s victory over Atletico Madrid?

It was a tense night as Barcelona came out on top at the Metropolitano

When you play Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid away from home, coming out of the lion’s den with a win is a plus no matter how you look at it.

For Hansi Flick, there was also an opportunity to prove he learned his lessons against a team that had his number last season.

Had Barcelona lost this game, which they very certainly could have, the chorus of criticism would have reached a fever pitch for a team that had already fallen to Real Madrid and PSG in recent weeks.

The current coaching conditions are tough for Flick. His roster coming into the day continued to be light on good defensive options. That being said, help was on the way with Andreas Christensen and Eric Garcia making it back into the roster.

Flick had choices to make, and in the end, he doubled down on his known biases.

When I saw the starting eleven, I immediately felt cause for concern. Atleti has been one of the best teams at getting behind Barca’s backline, and Flick sent out João Cancelo and Brian Fariñas as his full-backs. A non-defending defender, and an academy midfielder deputizing as a full-back.

In addition to that, he chose to play Marc Bernal instead of Frenkie de Jong in place of the injured Rodri.

For me, the first half was a horror show. Simeone got everything right, while all Flick could do was pray for half-time to make changes. Luckily, Julián Alvarez missed a wide open opportunity to make it 2-0, and then Fermín López came to the rescue to even things up right before half-time, which totally changed the dynamic of the game.

At the break, player changes were obviously needed for Barcelona. Flick made the right choice to bring in Frenkie de Jong, but the surprise choice of playing him as a full-back in place of Fariñas.

It needs to be asked, what’s really going on with Alejandro Balde? At the moment, it looks like he’s completely locked out of the lineup with no chance back in on merit, and the sad part is, that decision is costing the team.

Balde, I think many people would argue, would have been a better option than Cancelo in this game because it was a matchup that demanded physicality and good defending.

Furthermore, all you ask of a coach is to be fair. When everyone is getting in front of your starting full-back from last season, no matter how many others fall to injury and fatigue, the coach must give a clear explanation, otherwise it’s starts to smell like personal feelings are coming before what’s in the best interest of the team.

Fermín López was the man of the hour again. He’s the player that never quits, and it made all the difference against Atleti.

Flick got it wrong tactically, and with his team selection to start the game. The in-game management he got half-right. That won’t be good enough in the biggest games to come if Barcelona hopes to win trophies.

Perhaps some fans will disagree with my assessment and feel that Flick deserves more credit, and less blame, especially after a big win against one of Barcelona’s biggest rivals in Spain.

I just don’t want Barcelona to experience déjà vu when it matters most.

Real Madrid are picking up steam, and the Champions League will be full of seasoned contenders.

If Barcelona want to compete with the big boys of Europe, they have to show they’re better than they were a year ago.

So far, the jury is still out.