It’s been one of those weeks when you take a minute to reflect on how grateful you are as a Barcelona fan.
Being a champion is not about being dominant at all times. At Barcelona, that can be hard to remember
playing in the generation after the tiki taka revolution.
Great teams need to have humility. The more superstars you have, and the greater the expectations, the more important it is to be humble and not take winning for granted.
Real Madrid is the club of Galácticos. When they’re winning it feels like a blessing to have all those famous faces, but in a season like this, you can see that it’s just as much a curse. Say what you want about Xabi Alonso, but in his young career as a manager, he’s already proven himself by what he accomplished at Leverkusen. What happened for him in Germany was no accident. He has the managerial bona fides.
At the moment, Kylian Mbappe is the leading scorer in Spain by a mile. He’s doing what he was brought in to do when he arrived in Madrid, and yet the team has not been better off since his arrival.
Barcelona have Lamine Yamal, Pedri, and Raphinha, arguably three of the best players in the world. But the most important person at the club is Hansi Flick because he has instilled humility into the team, and has taught those players the importance of professionalism, and putting the team above themselves.
When you look at Barcelona, first and foremost, you see a healthy and positive dressing room, and you always have since the day Flick arrived. There is unity and belief in the mission, system, and culture.
Winning the Spanish Supercopa twice in a row was not a fluke. His team won it because they took the little competition seriously.
The Copa del Rey is no longer a cakewalk for Barcelona, or any team, like it used to be. The smaller clubs, playing on home soil, treat these matches like it’s the biggest moment of their lives. No one gets a free pass. This week, Real Madrid learned that lesson the hard way, and in the process, we saw what makes Spanish football special.
For better or worse, it’s a bipolar world in La Liga.
This season, Barcelona have the advantage because of the intangibles. Their roster is healthy now for the most part, and Flick is using it. As a result, every player is getting their chance, big or small, to contribute to the team’s success.
Racing Santander is a very good team, and Barcelona will likely see them again next year in the first division. To get past them, even while resting Pedri and Raphinha, Barcelona had to be focused for 90 minutes and play their game to the best of their ability. Professionalism over perfection.
They didn’t run circles around their opponent, but they were the better team throughout. With a bit of luck, or maybe just because they have the best goalkeeper in the world at the moment, they were able to get across the finish line without too much stress.
This week, we saw that Real Madrid and Barcelona, at the moment, are like night and day.
For their success to continue, when it matters most, Barcelona must maintain their humility and respect for the game.
Their talent is not in doubt, the same way you can’t deny it for Real Madrid. The ability to carry on consistently with this level of professionalism is what will make the difference.
The biggest challenges still lay ahead, but at the moment, you would bet on Hansi Flick and Barcelona when the pressure heats up, because character counts, and they’ve built a foundation of integrity that their football rests on.
And that’s something to be proud of, regardless of the trophies that are won.
