Barcelona have enjoyed a successful season by winning La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup but did suffer disappointment in the Champions League and Copa del Rey.
Atletico Madrid knocked Barcelona out of both competitions and Eric Garcia has revealed what the team learnt from the painful 4-0 defeat to Diego Simeone’s side in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final.
“After those games, I think we learnt how to read games better,” he told The Athletic. “There’s moments when the opponents have the ball,
and you are tired after four, five or six consecutive presses, so you better hold it a bit and find your balance. We had meetings with the team, talking everything through, and found a solution that has made us better.
“We have been more solid since. In the Champions League quarter-finals, we did not lose against Atletico because of pressing badly. It’s something in which we have improved and evolved, and I think it can be the path to follow to go to the next level.
“High-pressing for 90 minutes is very difficult, and now we know there are moments when, if we don’t have the right legs or positioning on the pitch, you possibly take a step back, read the room and decide when to jump and press again. This is what Paris Saint-Germain did in the return leg of the Champions League semi-finals against Bayern Munich. When they could, they went pressing man-to-man. When they couldn’t, they waited deeper.”
Barcelona will go again next season with Hansi Flick having already warned his players they will have to “work harder” next year as they aim to bring more silverware back to Camp Nou.
