Raphinha’s muscle injury during the international break altered Hansi Flick’s plans. In the first of the three matches that will be played between them in just 10 days, the German coach was forced to readjust his system. He opted to revolutionize the eleven: Marcus Rashford took the Brazilian’s place, and the Barça team appeared at the Metropolitano without a pure nine, after Robert Lewandowski had accumulated two full matches with his national team and Ferran Torres had gone 555 minutes and 11 games – now 12 – without seeing a goal. In his place, Dani Olmo served as a false nine during the first half.
It was not a new position for Olmo, although as a starter for Barça he had only occupied it last season, in the Copa del Rey against Betis. “He already played a couple of games like nine, and I think he did very well. He had a lot of ball control,” Flick said in Dazn before the match.
Both players were under scrutiny, under examination. Especially the Englishman, who arrived at the Camp Nou on loan from Manchester United until June 30 with a purchase option of 30 million. Its continuity is at stake. And between the two players, Barça’s first goal was created.
Despite the change of plans, Flick did not want to give up his ideology. The precedents weighed: that cup duel against Atlético, the 4-0 that Barça failed to overcome in the second leg. “The whole team has to defend, not just the defenders. It’s part of our philosophy. Everyone is involved in attack, and everyone is involved in defense. That’s what I want to see, especially today,” Flick insisted before the match.
But Rashford, always ambivalent, was not Raphinha, neither in the effort without the ball, nor in the pressure. Starting from the left lane, the Englishman provides overflow and speed in transition, but loses weight in interior association and high pressing. Disconnected in defensive tasks, he touched 23 balls and lost eight in the entire first half.
The pressure that Flick demanded did not appear: no recovery in the rival field among the 19 total before the break. However, in an individual action, after a triangulation culminated with an assist from Dani Olmo, Rashford found the tying goal. The English winger had not scored since January 31 against Elche. Until then, Rashford found a place in the team with 10 goals and 13 assists in 39 games. But always as an alternative to Raphinha.
Now, the Brazilian will not return for five weeks. And the Englishman aims to continue occupying his place as a starter. The next 35 days can mark your future. A future still to be resolved like that of the nines. With Ferran and Lewandowski already on the pitch, the Valencian tried it. But
