Hansi Flick knows glamour doesn’t win Champions League ties. Graft does.
On the eve of Barcelona’s clash with Atletico Madrid, the 61-year-old cut through the noise around Marcus Rashford’s bright start in Spain with a blunt reminder: talent alone will not be enough against Diego Simeone’s wide threats.
“It’s not just about pressing with the ball; in the end, you also have to defend,” Flick warned when asked about Rashford in his pre-match press conference.
The message was aimed at one player, but it clearly applied to the entire forward line. Against Atleti, every winger becomes a full-back, every attacker a first defender.
Rashford has impressed since arriving, and Flick acknowledged as much. “He’s doing things well and has adapted,” the German said. That adaptation, though, now faces its most demanding examination. Atletico live on the flanks, punishing any lapse in tracking runners or closing down crosses.
“We’re going to play against Atletico, and they are good down the wings,” Flick reminded.
It sounded less like praise and more like a warning. Switch off, even once, and the tie can tilt.
Barcelona’s coach then widened the lens to his team’s identity. “We have our style and we know how we want to play,” he insisted. The pressing game remains non-negotiable. When it disappears, the consequences are brutal.
“When we don't press, it's easier for the opponent to find space. We saw that with the first goal; we didn't pressure the ball.”
One mistake, one moment of passivity, and the whole structure buckles. Flick clearly has that image burned into his mind as the Champions League anthem approaches.
Now comes the competition “that everyone wants to play in,” as he put it. The stakes rise, the margins shrink, and the tolerance for naïve defending drops to zero.
That theme of learning under fire ran through Flick’s reflections on Barcelona’s season. He pointed to the 2-1 La Liga defeat to Girona in mid-February as a quiet turning point, a night that hurt but also hardened his squad.
“After the match against Girona, we played at a better level,” he explained. Pain produced progress. The response mattered more than the setback.
A big part of that story is the defence, built on youth and nerve. At the heart of it, Pau Cubarsí and Gerard Martin have been thrown into the deep end and asked to swim in waters usually reserved for seasoned internationals.
“Our team is very young,” Flick said. “The two center-backs, [Pau] Cubarsí and Gerard [Martin], are doing a fantastic job, but it's normal that in some situations they don't make the right decision. They are young, and adapting to this level is difficult to see.”
There was no criticism in his voice, just realism. Mistakes are inevitable. What matters now is how quickly those lessons take hold when the opponent is Atletico and the stage is the Champions League.
Rashford’s adaptation, the kids at the back, the commitment to pressing – all of it converges in one simple demand from Flick: total defensive sacrifice from front to back, or risk being exposed when it counts most.
