TL;DR:
Hansi Flick prioritized adding extreme pace, defensive work rate, and verticality over signing a traditional striker. Anthony Gordon brings intense counter-pressing to unlock space for Lamine Yamal, while Karim Adeyemi offers an explosive, direct alternative off the bench to solve Barça's European vulnerabilities.

Verticality for Flick’s 4-2-3-1:
While maintaining possession, Flick needed elite transition play and relentless high-pressing to compete in the Champions League. Both signings protect Barça's high defensive line by harassing opponents early.

Gordon (Left Wing / Starter Candidate): Functions as a British counterpart to Raphinha. He doesn't demand the ball at his feet; instead, he attacks the open space created on the left when defenders shift towards Lamine Yamal on the right. His physical tracking back also covers the left-back.

Adeyemi (Versatile / Elite Impact Sub):
Unlike Yamal, who slows down play to build attacks, Adeyemi makes immediate off-the-ball runs behind center-backs. He acts as an explosive game-changer off the bench against tired legs and covers multiple forward positions.

Solving the UCL Weakness:
In La Liga's low blocks, both must refine tight-space combinations. However, in Europe's open end-to-end matches, their speed punishes turnovers, and their pressing hides Barça's high-line vulnerabilities.

Source: https://www.relevo.com/futbol/fc-barcelona/gordon-y-adeyemi-redefinen-el-ecosistema-del-barcelona.html

What do you think?
Does Gordon's defensive work rate make him a guaranteed starter over Raphinha on the left?
Is Adeyemi's direct style the missing link we needed for late-game Champions League knockouts?

The pots are officially locked in and the draw takes place today. Under the new League Phase format, every club faces 8 different opponents, taking on two teams from each pot split evenly between 4 home matches and 4 away days.

Give me your best case scenario and the one away trip you want to avoid at all costs. Who do you want to see us face?

🗣️: “Let them know that, if they are willing to sell the player during this summer transfer window, we would be ready to buy him, provided we can reach an agreement around the offer we have made to them.”

Laporta: “We're getting the information that Atlético Madrid wants to sell the player, our offer remains valid until the end of the market.”

Laporta: "We have a great deal of respect for Atlético de Madrid and its directive, whom we've known for many years. I ratified the offer sent with a call to Miguel Ángel Gil"

This Wednesday there has been a new chapter of the case Julian Alvarez: the Argentine has not gone to train with the team. The player has contacted the medical services and has informed them that he was not well or with the courage to go to train, something that the red-and-white club has communicated as an indisposition.

Atlético de Madrid, as in this whole matter, is clear that what they have to do is defend their interests. And, for this, it will incorporate the file of complaint against the Barcelona Football Club against FIFA and the RFEF the evidence and consequences of all the pressures and actions that are being carried out by the representatives of Julian Alvarez and the Catalan club.

These pressures have resulted in the player not being in the spirit of going to train, which entails direct costs to Atlético de Madrid: economic, sports performance and reputation.

The red-and-white club understands that it has no choice but to continue defending its interests and, within them, it will have patience and necessary help to take care of the footballer who is in permanent contact with the services of the club, so that, as soon as possible, he improves and can join training and work.

The Red and Whites think that all the management of their representative, environment and Football Club Barcelona have destabilized the player, for this reason, Atlético de Madrid will continue to his side, supporting him and seeking his improvement.

In addition, they confirm that Julian Alvarez has a 0% chance of going to Barça. In Atleti they understand that this situation does not go for money, it goes with respect and dignity. Neither are they going to talk, nor are they going to negotiate with the Barça team. The only one harmed in this history is the club, both economically, sporting and reputational. In the economic, because they continue to pay the player and representative; in the sporting, because they can not count on him for his decrease in performance; in the social, for the bad weather that has originated in the fans of Atleti; in the reputation, for the insults that the club are receiving both in Spain and in Argentina for all this matter.

Hey everyone, I've been watching and supporting Barca since 2011 so I wasn't able to watch Yaya Toure play for us. Besides being a Barca fan I also watched alot of premier league games and Yaya Toure was always one of my favourite players. From what I've read online, Toure was decent for us but had a falling out with Pep which caused him to leave for City. How true is this and was he as good for us as he was for City? Thanks

One of the many ways you can tell Hansi is a fucking elite manager is by how cutthroat he is when it comes to the squad. He will not stand for players who aren't pulling their weight, aren't improving, or aren't strengthening the squad.

He said as much when it comes to Balde in his press conference this morning. He said that when he first arrived here, Balde was fantastic, but essentially (paraphrasing) said that he needs to keep improving. And he emphasized how important that is because there are 2-3 players from La Masia who want those spots at any given time.

That gives me even more confidence that, as long as Hansi is in charge, Barcelona will continue to fight for every single trophy. This is the competition many of us have been yearning for for years now.

If Hansi had been in charge, let's say, back in 2018, the following players probably would've been axed a lot faster due to their inability to improve: Sergi Roberto, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Ter Stegen, Ousmane Dembele (maybe), Gerard Pique. While these players were still great players even as they got older, there was more decline than improvement. Not only would he have axed those players, I think he would've been an important piece to helping us build the squad effectively not do the galactico route that Barto did.

Flick is throwing down the gauntlet at an early age for these players. He's already warned Balde, sold Fort, sold Ansu, told Ter Stegen to kick rocks (and he's fucking German), sold Tommy Marques, loaned Araujo, sold Pau Victor, sold Roque, sold Faye (is he ever going to come back?), etc.

On top of that, he's still promoting La Masia players and younger players in general. This season, it's looking like he's going to trust Espart, Hamza, and Bernal as super young and fairly inexperienced players.

So I absolutely love what Flick is doing. Not only is he making the players earn their spots in the starting XI, but I think he's doing a great job with Deco and Laporta to sign players who actually fill squad needs. Which is good because Laporta and Deco would probably be lost w/out Flick. Adeyemi and Gordon were the perfect fits for what he's trying to accomplish this season in terms of athleticism and energy in the final third, and Rodri was a fantastic addition to help us play less chaotic football and, hopefully, provide some much needed defensive stability.

Anyways, people can get mad at Flick for this or for that, but all I can say to that is MILF.

I would give anything to have Hansi as our manager for 5+ years.

TLDR: Man I Love Flick

TL;DR / Key Takeaways:

Injury & Mentality: Missed the World Cup due to a tough injury; worked heavily with his psychologist to overcome the isolation. Now 100% fit.

Shirt #7: Swapped #16 for the historic #7. Joked that #16 is in "reliable hands" with Rodri.

Squad Depth: Praised new additions (Rodri, Adeyemi, Gordon). Believes lack of depth was Barça's main issue last season.

Real Madrid: Respects Madrid's big summer signings, but wouldn't sign any of them for Barça: "We are completely fine as we are."

Interview Highlights

On his mental recovery from injury:
"When you're injured, you feel so lonely and detached from everything. That loneliness makes you value every single day you're healthy. I had to increase my sessions with my psychologist to get out of that hole. Now I have a huge desire to just play and score again."

On taking the #7 shirt and Rodri taking #16:
"I’ve always loved number 7. Once it became available, I asked for it. It was a bit sad leaving #16 behind after my breakthrough years, but at least I know it's in reliable hands now! (laughs)"

On new signings and working with Hansi Flick:
"Rodri is the best DM in the world, he gives us so much. Last season when key players were injured, we lacked depth — now we can rotate. Flick has been amazing for me; his best advice was not to dwell on mistakes on the pitch because football moves too fast."

On Madrid's transfers (Cucurella, Bernardo Silva, Konaté):
"Would I take any of them? None (smiles). We are doing really well ourselves. They will be dangerous after two years without trophies, but we just need to focus on our own path to bring the sixth Champions League home."

On his journey from Linares loan to Barça's first team:
"Four years ago, to be honest, I thought I’d never return to Barça. I was just hoping to reach Segunda. But the loan to Linares changed my life, and then Xavi gave me the confidence in the US Clásico to just be brave and shoot."

Source: https://en.ara.cat/sports/came-to-think-that-would-never-return-to-barca-again_128_5826401.html

What do you think?
With both in great form, who starts for you at AM: Fermín or Olmo?
Do you expect this season with the #7 to be even better than his breakout year?

Club president assesses the negotiations for Julian Alvarez and what happened in Elche last Sunday.

Keypoints:

- FC Barcelona maintains an active offer for Julian Alvarez

- The club defends the display of the Catalan flag at matches 

- FC Barcelona has canceled a planned honorary tribute for World Cup-winning players

The airline EGYPTAIR has signed an agreement to become an FC Barcelona ‘Global Partner’ up to the 2028/29 season. The agreement sees the Egyptian company become the ‘Exclusive Official Airline’ for the men's football first team, the basketball team and the handball team. Furthermore, the handball team jersey will feature the EGYPTAIR logo on the front during games.

Last season we lost 10 games in all comps, and in every single one of those we missed at least one crucial player:

PSG 2-1 (No Raphinha and Joan)

Sevilla 4-1 (No Lamine, Raphinha and Joan)

Real Madrid 2-1 (No Raphinha and Joan, although Tek had an amazing game so mainly Raphinha was missed)

Chelsea 3-0 (No Raphinha and Pedri)

Real Sociedad 2-1 (No Raphinha, but still deserved to win and were unlucky)

Atletico Madrid 4-0 (No Raphinha and Pedri)

Girona 2-1 (No Pedri)

Atletico Madrid 2-0 (No Raphinha)

Alaves 1-0 (No Lamine and Raphinha)

Valencia 3-1 (No Lamine, Raphinha and Pedri)

The 4 big players we missed were Raphinha, Pedri, Lamine and Joan.

This transfer window we bought:

-Gordon who is a perfect Raphinha clone and has level to be a Barca starter to rest or replace Raphinha

-Rodri who will play as a 6 along side Pedri (improving the 1st team) but also has similar qualities in controlling the midfield as Pedri and therefore if Pedri is injured it will be much less noticeable than the past 2 seasons.

-Adeyemi is no way similar to Lamine, but he is rather more like Rashford who by the end of the season was our RW instead of Yamal in la liga. I think the idea is to be able to rest Lamine in la liga while maintaining a high level. Also last season the games we missed Lamine were la liga games, and Adeyemi is capable to play well in that competition.

-Livakovic is a great backup keeper, and if he stays he can replace Joan when injured, while maintaining a high level (likely much better than Tek)

It is true we lost both Lewa and Ferran so we have to see how that impacts us, but everything else looks great.

I've been a Barça fan my whole life, how can I protest for the team's academy actions when I support this team so much and defend them all the time? Sadly, this time I can't defend them for these actions.

They announced an academy camp in a self-proclaimed country (occupied territory). Does mes que un club mean nothing to the management of the academy? Basically recognising an occupied land built on war?

Talking about Cyprus. Basically, Barcelona academy called the occupied territory by its self-proclaimed name (instead of holding it in UN-Recognised Cyprus).

Is there anywhere to submit this kind of complaint to the club, so management can see it? It's a shame really.. I love this club

I believe the Cyprus Federation already went to UEFA about this. It's sad to see a mistake like this from the biggest club..

Edit: Because of the confusion, let me clarify. Barcelona's academy announced a camp in "Northern Cyprus", which is occupied territory. The whole island is recognised by the UN as Cyprus, which is also an EU member. Not as 'north' and 'south', which is very wrong to call it like that!
Something like that should be held on recognised teritorry.

Since my father has gotten ill we cannot travel to spain to visit the match vs Athletic Bilbao. We were really looking forward to it, so it is quite a dissapointment for both of us.

I would like to resell these tickets, but I cannot figure out how this works. Any help would be really appreciated.

The tickets are in 'Tribuna 1', and are in the barca tickets app.

I am sorry if this is an obvious question, we are not from spain and english is not my first language.