FC Barcelona had one of their best wins of this season against Villarreal back on matchday 6 as the Blaugranes came out as 5-1 winners over them.
However, the Yellow Submarines can once again be a factor in determining the Catalans’ position on the league table at the end of this week as they are set to play against Real Madrid, who are currently placed second with a three-point deficit with Barcelona, on Saturday.
As SPORT has reported, the coach of Villarreal, Marcelino Garcia Toral, appeared in an interview and commented on the changes taking place at Barcelona this season. Talking about how the team’s playing style has changed, the Spanish manager commented:
“It’s a Barça that runs a lot, an enormous amount both in total volume and intensity. Also, if you have very good players, a very specific game plan, and you build on early favorable results, it’s normal that you resemble a machine.”
Marcelina also showed some surprise at how quickly the Cules have adapted to Flick’s style:
“What surprises me is that the Barça fans are embracing this style of play. There seemed to be a philosophy that was non-negotiable. Now we see that Barça holds possession to attack and finish you off, doing it over and over again. They press after losing the ball, like in other eras, and then are capable of finishing.”
Further commenting on the change in Barcelona’s playing style, he went on to say:
“It’s paradoxical that 50% of the goals scored were built with fewer than five passes. That’s not how things used to be. Before, they recovered the ball to maintain possession, but now they recover to counterattack.”
“From my point of view, they circulate the ball to gain space, progress, and finish, whereas before they circulated just to keep possession. These are nuances they’ve added, and personally, I love it.”
There is no doubt that Flick’s Barcelona plays very differently from Xavi’s team. The results and performances on the pitch are clearly in Flick’s favour at this point in time, but as Marcelino commented, Barcelona fans have already embraced this style which is somewhat different from the club’s traditional style of play.
