'Had to deal with problems that were not his responsibility' - Lothar Matthaus reveals key to Hansi Flick's Barcelona success after failed Germany spell

Lothar Matthaus, Germany's all-time leading appearance maker, has explained why Hansi Flick has been able to impress again with Barcelona following a failed stint as the coach of the German national team, with Barcelona leading LaLiga and opening up a six-point gap after beating arch-rivals Real Madrid 4-0 last weekend.

Flick has revitalised a Barcelona side that seemed to be stuck in an eternal rut. There were positives during Xavi's mixed reign as coach, but he was sacked from the dugout after the Catalans ended the 2023-24 campaign trophyless.

Despite economic constraints and issues with player registrations, Flick instilled a unique mentality in the squad and has made the most of the resources available to him. His strongest XI consists of two 17-year-olds, and a couple more La Masia graduates. Barcelona are arguably the best team in the world on current form.

As such, Matthaus has heaped praise on the former Bayern Munich coach and shared his opinions on why there's a stark contrast in Flick's managerial tenures at Barcelona and Germany.

"It is very important for Hansi to have daily contact with the players. This allows him to build trust in daily conversations. He gets to know what is on the players' minds. This helps him to respond to them and then to work intensively with them in training to determine what he wants them to play. Hansi goes into great detail, he attaches great importance to nuances. With the national team, when you have one or two games every six weeks, that doesn't work," Matthaus told BILD.

"Of course Hansi made mistakes, for example with setups and changes. But Hansi also had to deal with problems that were not his responsibility as a coach. I'm just thinking of the political discussions, such as the rainbow captain's armband. DFB President Bernd Neuendorf and Oliver Bierhoff did not protect him. And many of the players with whom he was successful at Bayern had problems with themselves.

"Hansi has Barca play the same 4-2-3-1 system that [Robert] Lewandowski already shone in at Bayern. The many young professionals like [Lamine] Yamal or Pedri listen to a leader like Lewandowski, who is therefore an important factor for Hansi," he added.

The Blaugrana are scheduled to face Catalan rivals Espanyol at the Montjuic on Sunday, November 3, with the aim of maintaining a six-point lead atop the LaLiga table.