Flick's Barça Moves Past Controversies

Flick's Barça finds itself in two parallel realities, as vividly demonstrated this week in Saudi Arabia. On one side are the controversies surrounding the club, and on the other, the prosperity promised by a team where green shoots appear effortlessly. This nurturing ground celebrated in the Spanish Super Cup, providing Barça fans with a long-awaited bubble. For ninety minutes, there was no 'Negreira case', no 'Dani Olmo case', no gestures from their president—just football in capital letters, a spectacle Barcelona must manage and nurture for the future.

Indeed, Barça's display left no room for controversy. The Catalans did not protest a potential foul on Marc Casadó during Kylian Mbappé's goal; instead, they adhered to the established plan and played on, a directive Flick had made clear days earlier in a press conference. "There's a lot of external noise, but we must stay united," the German clarified before the match. Together, they protested the clear penalty by Camavinga on Gavi, which resulted in Barça's second goal. Together, they remained to request a possible expulsion for the French midfielder, which Gil Manzano did not deem necessary, and together, they stood firm after Szczesny was rightly shown the red card for a foul on Mbappé as he headed towards the goal.

That was the extent of the controversy in a high-flying classic, but only in footballing terms. The multicoloured stands of Jeddah, where both 'fanbases' were mixed, had to pinch themselves at a spectacle they were not accustomed to. And rightly so, as Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Raphinha, Casadó, and company executed a performance that included many of Barcelona's trademarks but also some traits of other competitors they usually face. They knew how to hold the ball, run into space, and even defend with one less player, performing a defensive exercise in their own half that is uncommon for a Flick team.

Barcelona had no choice but to endure turbulent days, yet they managed to detach themselves and compete again. Flick's team turned necessity into a virtue, creating a bunker where all the noise couldn't penetrate, despite the abundance of it in the past couple of months. The initial euphoria at the start of the season turned into a general slump with the results at the end of 2024, a decline that preceded the indignation felt as 2025 began.

The 'Olmo case' has not weakened Flick's team; instead, it has been a threat that has made them stronger. All that noise has not entered a dressing room that has lived with headphones on at full volume, not even removing them to hear their president's shouts in Saudi Arabia. Flick's Barça, the team that takes to the field every three days, moves past controversies and focuses on playing football, which they did superbly in the Spanish Super Cup to secure the first title with the German coach at the helm.