Hansi Flick has discovered the ideal strategy for FC Barcelona to avoid relying on Robert Lewandowski's goals in 2025. The coach has rested the Pole in four matches and the team has responded with an equal number of thrashings in La Liga and the Cup. In the last two months of 2024, the drop in form of the 36-year-old striker was key to Barcelona's collapse in La Liga. 'Lewy' only scored a couple of goals between matchday 12 and 20, during which Barça dropped 18 out of 27 possible points. The solution to this problem has been to trust Ferran Torres as a 'false 9'.
The first experiment by Flick took place against Mallorca (1-5). Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo drove the Mallorca defense crazy at Son Moix, freeing up space for Raphinha and Lamine Yamal. The Brazilian scored a brace, while the one from Mataró provided 2 assists. The 'Shark', along with Frenkie de Jong and Pau Víctor, capped off the 'manita' for Barça in a match where Robert Lewandowski did not play for the first time this season.
Valencia, the team that suffered the most from the 'false 9' plan
In La Liga, the scheme was repeated against Valencia in Montjuïc. This time, Fermín López took Dani Olmo's place, executing the same plan as the match in Mallorca. The '16' was the best player on the pitch, with a couple of goals and assists, while Ferran took the opportunity to score another goal, just like Rafa and De Jong. Lewandowski came on for half an hour before the end and also joined the party that was capped off by Tárrega with an own goal (7-1).
And, in the Cup, there have now been two consecutive matches where the 'false 9' plan has worked perfectly. Betis (1-5) and Valencia again (0-5) suffered the blue-and-red offensive onslaught without Robert on the field. The Pole had two days of rest and yet, Barça completed another two 'manitas' to reach nine for the season and four so far in 2025. In both matches, the blue-and-red team took the lead before the 3rd minute and went into halftime with a significant advantage (2-0 and 0-4, respectively).
The same had happened in the league match against Valencia, where the proceedings were practically identical to those of this Thursday. The halftime score was 5-0, with four goals in just 24 minutes. At Mestalla, the first four goals came within half an hour. In total, the record without Lewandowski on the field is 4 victories, with 22 goals scored and only 3 conceded. Pedri González has been the architect of the blue-and-red game, with performances that go far beyond statistical contributions (goals and assists).