Flick's Tactical Changes Before La Liga Season

Hansi Flick has one last dress rehearsal before Barcelona step into the new La Liga season, and he is using it to quietly redraw the map of his team.

Later today, in the Joan Gamper Trophy against Al Ahly, the Barça coach is expected to send out a side that will look very close to his XI for the league opener against Elche. The academy presence has thinned, the internationals are back, and the experiments are getting sharper, not broader.

This morning brought only a light session ahead of the friendly with the Egyptian champions, featuring new signing Rodri. The real clues came 24 hours earlier.

Kounde back in the middle, Farinas pushed wide

Tuesday’s training game, as reported by Mundo Deportivo, revealed three significant tweaks. Flick tried Jules Kounde, Raphinha and Brian Farinas in unfamiliar roles, splitting them across different teams.

Kounde’s switch is the most symbolic. Long viewed by the current staff as a candidate to return to his natural role in central defence, that idea has gathered real weight since Ronald Araujo’s departure. With Eric Garcia now established as Flick’s first-choice right-back after last season’s performances, the path has opened for Kounde to anchor the back line.

So he did exactly that in training: Kounde as centre-back, directing traffic from the heart of defence.

On his right side, another surprise. Farinas, who has never operated as a winger or full-back for Barça Atletic, lined up as a right-back. Flick wanted to see him there, stretching into a role that had previously been earmarked for Tommy Marques. The coach had openly floated Marques as a potential option on that flank; now Farinas has stepped into that slot in the squad and is being tested under pressure.

In midfield, Xavi Espart continued his own quiet audition. He again worked in the middle of the park, just as he did in the friendly against FC Basel, reinforcing the idea that Flick sees him as a genuine option between the lines rather than out wide or deeper.

Raphinha through the middle again

Higher up the pitch, the experiment is starting to look less like a trial and more like a plan.

Raphinha was used once more as a centre-forward, reprising the role he took on in the Basel friendly. Flick again deployed the Brazilian as a No. 9, asking him to lead the line rather than hug the touchline. In that earlier test he shared the front line with Anthony Gordon, another attacker Flick has publicly mentioned as an option up top.

On the opposite team in training stood Hamza Abdelkarim. The forward, who will face his boyhood club Al Ahly in the Joan Gamper, is expected to battle Raphinha for the starting centre-forward spot tonight. That duel, subtle as it might seem in a pre-season fixture, could carry straight into the opening weekend of La Liga.

The picture is becoming clearer. A centre-back Kounde, a full-back Farinas, a No. 9 Raphinha, Espart in midfield, Garcia locked in at right-back. Flick is not just rotating; he is drawing the outline of his first competitive XI.

When Barcelona walk out for the Joan Gamper Trophy, the crowd at Montjuïc may well be watching more than a showcase. They could be seeing the first real draft of Flick’s Barcelona for the season ahead.