Barcelona have come a long way under Hansi Flick, and the season is not over yet.
The sky isn’t falling in Catalonia, but even a short losing run — two games — will always alarm a club and fanbase that expect greatness in all circumstances.
In just under a month the Barcelona presidency will be decided. Frankly, Joan Laporta faces little real opposition. He inherited a mess from Josep Bartomeu; there were legitimate reasons to fear for the club’s future. On the field, however, under the two managers Laporta appointed — Xavi and Hansi Flick — Barcelona have won La Liga twice while Real Madrid took the other two titles in the same period.
Laporta also made controversial choices that have, in hindsight, paid off. Letting Lionel Messi go and managing the departures of club legends should have been handled with more respect, but ultimately those moves worked out for Barcelona. The club’s current state is about as good as could have been hoped for after the dark Covid years of financial and sporting crisis.
Still, something feels off. How much of the recent success is down to the president’s leadership, and how much is luck? Are Barcelona on a sustainable path to compete regularly for trophies in Spain and Europe, or are past problems simply dormant and likely to re-emerge?
Much credit for the past two seasons must go to Hansi Flick. His tactics are open to criticism — they are imperfect, especially given the context. Realistically, the squad he has been handed should not be a frontrunner in La Liga or the Champions League. Flick has been a miracle worker asked to turn a makeshift team into title contenders, often without meaningful backing from the boardroom.
The squad’s weaknesses are clear: the full‑back positions were neglected for years, with Jules Koundé and Eric García forced to deputise on the right. The centre‑back pairing has been managed as a crisis since the shock departure of Iñigo Martínez in the summer. There was no obvious replacement for Sergio Busquets in defensive midfield and Flick has had to improvise. Finally, Barcelona lack a top‑class striker at his peak; despite goals from Ferran Torres and Robert Lewandowski, the attack still shows vulnerabilities.
Fans should get behind Flick and the players. They are flawed but they give reasons to cheer. Right now Barcelona are where they need to be in La Liga and the Champions League: perhaps not deep enough, but with a starting eleven fit for the business end of the season.
In the long run Joan Laporta has big questions to answer and he may not always be so fortunate. For now, though, we should enjoy the football Flick has brought to Barcelona. There will still be plenty of drama ahead — and how the story ends will be what matters.
Barcelona: La Liga
