Barcelona won 5 consecutive matches in La Liga in the early stages of the 2024-2025 season. They scored 17 goals and were also quickly praised by the media.
How can we not praise the changes in the Catalan team since Hansi Flick replaced Xavi Hernandez as coach? Cule and everyone else have seen the change in both playing style and intensity from the players who have also changed in terms of physique and fitness.
The German coach has been in Catalunya for just over 100 days, and people have talked about the possibility of reclaiming the La Liga title from Real Madrid, as well as ending the Champions League drought that has lasted since 2015.
However, Flick and his students started in the most prestigious club arena on the old continent in an unexpected way. 1 red card and a 1-2 defeat at AS Monaco, perhaps, people will ask, was that just an accident?
Flick has chosen to take a positive approach to the situation. In the dressing room, Flick has stressed the importance of learning from this experience and maintaining unity.
"Failure is part of the process. What matters is how we react," the German coach reminded that every failure can be an opportunity to grow.
However, there is another way to see how the defeat could have a bigger impact on Barca than Flick thinks. It was a defeat in a prestigious competition and it could have been discouraging for the players. Remember, in recent seasons, Barcelona have been eliminated early in the Champions League.
This year, looking at a longer journey in which Barca still have to compete with Dortmund, Benfica, Bayern Munich - Flick's old team, Atalanta - the reigning Europa League champions, any psychological wavering could be very dangerous.
More importantly, when they are on the rise and then suffer such a painful fall, they may need time to calm down. But the schedule waits for no one, tonight will be the away trip to Villarreal in round 6 of La Liga.
Villarreal is one of four teams that have not lost after five rounds (won three, drawn two) and is one of three teams behind Barca, all with 11 points.
Barcelona still have more wins in their history, but the “Yellow Submarine” have never been an easy opponent for them. Last season, the two matches between them produced a total of 15 goals, with each team winning 1 - Barca won 4-3 in Castellon, Villarreal won 5-3 in Catalunya.
Confidence is good, but overconfidence can have consequences. Marc-Andre ter Stegen's mistake against Monaco that led to Eric Garcia's red card is proof. The German goalkeeper will learn from that mistake, but who knows where the next mistake will appear!?
The way AS Monaco performed could be a hint for other teams when playing Barcelona, because last summer, the Monaco team also won 3-0 in the Joan Gamper Cup match...
And another warning is the injuries of the players due to the very strict demands from Flick on training and competition intensity...
