Hansi Flick has suffered his first heavy blow in a long time. Barcelona looked unable to find solutions against Real Madrid in the Clásico, their attacking effectiveness fading amid an absence of tactical ideas.
According to the Spanish newspaper "AS", Flick has earned great praise at Barcelona for his ability to lift a team that was struggling badly at the end of the Xavi era. This time, though, he ended the Clásico shaken by defeat, a scene not witnessed for some time.
Gone were the verticality, ambition and vitality that define Barcelona, replaced by hesitation and a lack of decisiveness. The team also looked unable to find tactical answers to a logical plan devised by José Mourinho, one they could have anticipated.
Worse still, Barcelona could not even rescue a draw on a night when almost nothing worked.
The newspaper pointed out that things were not going well inside the club. Flick tried to soften the blow of the defeat against Paris Saint-Germain, saying after the loss at the Parc des Princes: "Of course I was thinking about Real Madrid".
That was an explanation the German coach had never reached for since his arrival at Barcelona. His permanent priority had always been to focus on each match individually.
Paris Saint-Germain fired 15 shots at Joan García's goal, a figure that lays bare the scale of the problems the Catalan side are suffering.
Real Madrid did not threaten Barcelona's goal to the same extent during the Clásico, taking five shots on target. Even so, they could have inflicted a heavier defeat when the scoreline showed Los Blancos leading by a single goal. Barcelona tried to come back in the second half but could not manage it.
The match also exposed clear tactical gaps. Real Madrid managed to limit the danger of Rodri and Pedri, who were unable to involve Fermín López in the play, leaving him isolated from the rest of his teammates.
Play through the middle vanished, and the wings offered little, save for the effort of Gordon.
Getty ImagesYamal's predicament
Lamine Yamal is another source of creativity for Barcelona, but Marc Cucurella managed to neutralise him. After what happened against Chelsea last season at Stamford Bridge, it was surprising that the German coach did not try different solutions, such as moving Lamine off the wing and sending Raphinha into the direct individual duels with the international full-back.
Yamal never felt comfortable throughout the match. Frustration took hold, as seen in the chance he squandered before the end of the first half.
Substitutions proved another weak spot for Flick. He made only the forced change of bringing on Baldé for the injured Espart, then waited until the 74th minute to introduce Frenkie de Jong.
Ademi and Gordon arrived in the 84th minute, by which time there was no longer enough time for them to have a positive effect on the game. Their involvement actually did the team harm.
Both players looked far removed from the emotionally charged atmosphere of the match. The Brazilian lost the ball with one of his first touches, starting the attack that led to Kylian Mbappé's second goal for Real Madrid.
The press conference is the clearest proof
Flick looked short of ideas even during the press conference, falling back on physical exhaustion, the week available to the team to recover its fitness, and his desire to improve the performance of a group still well short of its best.
The German coach's bid for his 100th victory with Barcelona this week also stalled, his tally frozen at 99 wins, 10 draws and 21 defeats.
His standing with Barcelona's fans and board undoubtedly remains considerable. Even so, Flick and his assistants will have to put in double the effort to restore vitality to a team that faltered in the first week it wanted to prove it could compete for every trophy this season.
Flick had insisted Barcelona would reach full readiness after the first international break. The prevailing impression now is that the team started the season better than expected, only to enter a phase of decline.