From Barcelona to Milan, the extraordinary journey of Flick's Barça

As the Greek Konstantinos Kavafis wrote in his poem Ithaca, a metaphor for all our existential goals: the journey is more important than the goal, he proclaimed, and it's not a question of contradicting him because he's not here to refute us. Football , which tends to value success more than the journey to achieve it, should make an exception for Hansi Flick's Barça , made up of a group of players for whom no one predicted such an odyssey. Having won the Copa del Rey against Madrid, on the verge of qualifying for the Champions League final (today) and virtually sealing the La Liga title with a win in the Clásico (Sunday), it's worth pausing to consider their journey to get here, because who knows if the Barça ship will end up in port or be stranded on the shore, and if the latter happens, few will remember Kavafis.

Flick, an author team

The current Barça has a name and surname, those of a German coach whose CV, despite his age (60), was brief but devastating: a hat-trick with Bayern and the executing arm of another team with a name and surname (Leo Messi's) by tearing them apart on an ill-fated Lisbon night in August 2020. The scoreline was so unusual in football (2-8) that it left a wound that has taken years to heal, five to be precise. On the sidelines, their effort, legacy and titles (Copa, Supercopa and La Liga) were left behind by two Barcelona legends: Ronald Koeman, who immediately captured the charm of a teenage Pedri and gave Gavi his debut, and Xavi Hernández, who showed the way always looking towards La Masia, bravely and with a vision of the future giving the alternative to Lamine Yamal, Cubarsí and Fermín. Flick, therefore, arrived at just the right time in terms of the maturation of the younger players, but his merit goes much further: 1) he pulled declining and unloved players out of their slump (Raphinha, Ferran Torres, De Jong, and even Lewandowski); and 2) he modernized the Barça script without the purists, overcome by victories, raising their voices, also improving physical performance to European standards. Disciplined, paternal as if he knew the magazine "Being a Parent" by heart, and with a heightened sense of justice applied based on merit, Flick has triumphed in the locker room, the most difficult space to conquer due to the battle of egos, and outside, his sanity has prevailed in a club accustomed to the noise of millions of disturbed people. Flick speaks and is listened to. A miracle.

The template, all together

The secret to success in transcendent teams is usually the balance between the players' different virtues, each one serving a common goal. Flick has achieved this by elevating the commitment of the dressing room without distinction. Everyone is at their best here. Then there's the talent, of course, the innate talent of Lamine Yamal, a dazzling figure destined to win Ballon d'Ors, and the hard work of Raphinha, a player who has rebelled against his fate, leaving us all speechless. The combination of those two antagonistic forwards defines Barça's current form. Otherwise, Lewandowski is Dorian Gray, Cubarsí and Íñigo Martínez have emerged as a unique center-back pairing because they both defend and play, and the midfield is extremely creative thanks to Pedri, the great boss, De Jong, his squire, and Dani Olmo, the only summer signing alongside Pau Víctor. Then Szczesny appeared in the winter, but the Pole's outstanding performance has no explanation, except the esoteric. The only regret for tonight's crucial night is the absence of the two full-backs who have given the team wings so far, Koundé and Balde, both injured. This is another achievement for Flick: looking to the bench for resources is no longer a drama. There are Araújo, Gavi, Fermín, Gerard Martín, Eric Garcia, and Ferran Torres, the latter two presumably starting against Inter, so as not to be out of place. They all feel part of a great season. And they performed at a spectacular level.

Laporta, intuition

While Flick represents modernity and planning, Joan Laporta moves between intuition, recklessness, a vintage personality, and a self-confidence that allows him to smile and even offer encouragement while walking a tightrope with a pit of embers looming below. Unprecedented in his luck, Laporta was clear that he had to go the German route and, after trying in vain with others (Ralf Rangnick among them), the inconsistent experience with Xavi led him to Hansi Flick without hesitation. His instinct, as with Rijkaard and Guardiola, proved him right again. The phenomenal performance of Flick's Barça, coupled with that of the women's team (both are in contention for the treble in an unprecedented opportunity in the beautiful game), have silenced the opposition and downplayed colossal crises such as the signings of Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor, the delay at the Spotify Camp Nou, and the lack of financial management. It could be said that even the inability to sign players has benefited his sporting management, as with money (Vítor Roque, 13 appearances on his return to Brazil, one goal with Palmeiras), we'll never know what would have happened. In any case, Laporta, whose charisma remains intact despite the blows, has acknowledged that Flick's Barça "has even exceeded our expectations."