Hansi Flick talks about the importance of signing a new center-back for the team!

Since Hansi Flick’s arrival at Barcelona at the start of the 2024-2025 season, the German coach has achieved significant success and has also managed to clearly restore the Catalan side’s identity, characterized by domestic dominance over two consecutive seasons.

• read more: Barça: Hansi Flick still faces a huge obstacle!

However, one of the major problems Hansi Flick faced at Barcelona was the lack of readiness of the defensive system and a shortage of experience—compounded by the specific coaching style he employs: a high defensive line, a hallmark of his approach since his time at Bayern Munich.

This season, Hansi Flick has secured consecutive victories in every match his team has played; however, he lost two of the most significant games—against PSG at the Parc des Princes and against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou.

Hansi Flick confirms his need for reinforcements this winter

Barcelona will face Deportivo Alavés tomorrow, Saturday. In the pre-match press conference held today, Friday, Hansi Flick confirmed that the club will need to make a signing to bolster the defense during the winter transfer window, in order to finish the season on a stronger footing.

I said it during the transfer window, we always talk about what’s best for the team, how we can improve it. It’s something we’re working on. We’ll see. We have a few weeks left before the transfer window opens. We’ve discussed it with Deco, Bojan, and my staff. That’s how we do things. If we can, maybe we will.

“Ultimately, defending isn’t just the defenders’ job; even the striker defends. Everyone is involved. To begin with, we can’t lose the ball easily. We lost possession a few times against Real Madrid, which isn’t good. It’s something that happens to us often, and we need to play more intelligently, more focused.

“When we’re defending in our own area, it’s also important to mark our opponents well, and we didn’t do that either. We have to improve in these situations. We train it, we take it into account, and we talk about it with the players.”

according to Barca Universal.

Barcelona’s lack of defensive options this season

Barcelona's defensive personnel are extremely stretched. Andreas Christensen was the first to be injured, followed by Eric García, Jules Koundé, and young player Xavi Espart joining the injury list. Espart suffered an ankle syndesmosis injury in the Clásico and is expected to be out for approximately 7 weeks, not returning until early 2027. Koundé's return was repeatedly delayed; he was originally expected to feature against Alavés but ultimately did not make the squad due to persistent discomfort. Christensen is targeting a return in the Champions League match against Aston Villa on November 3rd, while Eric García is expected to return around November 8th against Atlético Madrid.

Flick confirmed at a press conference: "We currently only have two centre-backs available, Gerard Martín and Pau Cubarsí, so it's important to find other solutions." The four defenders actually available are Cubarsí, Gerard Martín, Alejandro Balde, and João Cancelo. Frenkie de Jong can fill in at centre-back, but this is only an emergency measure.

Hazem Mlhem |

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Hazem Mlhem est un rédacteur sportif expérimenté, animé par une passion pour le football africain.

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