The FC Barcelona debuted an offensive sextet in Lisbon. Hansi Flick took to the field at the Estádio da Luz with all his 'weapons' and lined up his current 'first eleven' against Benfica. An unprecedented XI so far, but it lasted little on the field, as the expulsion of Pau Cubarsí forced the coach to adjust his system to a more defensive one to protect the score.
Against the team led by Bruno Lage, the blaugrana coach maintained his usual defense, with Szczesny in goal supported by Kounde, Íñigo, Cubarsí and Balde. The latter two returned to the starting lineup after resting against Real Sociedad last weekend for matchday 26 of LaLiga and began to make clear the intentions of the German, who sought to corner the Portuguese in their own field.
However, from the midfield forward, something that had never been seen this season was observed. Flick opted for six players who had never played together in this season, choosing a midfield composed of Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, and Dani Olmo, and an attacking trio made up of Lamine, Raphinha, and Lewandowski.
A novel and very offensive lineup for Flick
Flick chose three midfielders who, until this Wednesday, had only played together in this area of the field once, in the 4-4 draw against Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey. Previously, these three had started together in the cup match against Betis, but in that game, the '20' culé played as a 'false 9', with Gavi completing the midfield. Pedri had indeed played on various occasions with De Jong and Olmo separately, but injuries prevented the latter two from enjoying too many minutes together throughout this season.
The German bet on a very offensive team, and for that reason, Frenkie won the battle against Casadó, a pivot with a more defensive profile, as the coach himself confirmed a couple of days ago when he stated that "Casadó, when you need more stability in defense, offers it. He is always focused on defense. With Frenkie, we can achieve more possession and calm in some situations.”
Dani Olmo, for his part, added his third consecutive start. The Egarense, who had started against the colchoneros and 'txuri-urdin', was chosen by the coach due to the good performance shown in the previous two matches and the physical condition of Gavi, who could not train this week due to a fever that had already kept him out last Sunday in LaLiga.
However, in the match against the rojiblancos, Lewandowski was not a starter, but Ferran Torres was. Hence, at Da Luz, an unprecedented lineup was seen to date.
Cubarsí's expulsion ended the 'experiment' early
Beyond all this, Pau Cubarsí prevented enjoying this sextet for too long. In the 22nd minute, the center-back brought down Vangelis Pavlidis at the edge of the area, just as the local forward was heading for a one-on-one with Wojciech Szczesny. The '2' took too much risk and, failing to make contact with the ball, ended up bringing down the scorer of the 'eagles'.
To balance his team, Hansi Flick decided to substitute Dani Olmo to bring on Ronald Araujo, thus breaking an offensive setup that, with minutes and experience, could consolidate as the most lethal in the world.