Analysis: How Barca boss Hansi Flick perfected the science of substitutions to beat Atletico

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Second minute of stoppage time at the Metropolitano. Atletico Madrid look to craft a final chance to equalise and send their Copa del Rey semi-final against Barcelona into extra time.

A cross from the left deflects off Jules Kounde and loops towards the six-yard box.

Ronald Araujo reacts first with two Atletico players waiting and partially clears it under pressure…

… before Eric Garcia heads it further clear to Robert Lewandowski (not in frame) to allow Barcelona to push up the pitch.

All three were second-half substitutions.

All three contributed to Barcelona winning 1-0 and progressing to the Copa del Rey final 5-4 on aggregate.

All three provided further evidence that manager Hansi Flick has mastered the art of substitutions — and thus getting the best out of his Barcelona squad as they fight to win the Copa dely Ray, La Liga and Champions League.

There was a feeling, after Ferran Torres scored his 27th-minute goal and Barcelona dominated the first half, that Atletico fans were about to witness a straightforward defeat.

But then Atletico head coach Diego Simeone brought on Alexander Sorloth at half-time to join Julian Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann upfront.

In the first leg, when Atletico clawed back from 4-2 down in the 83rd minute to draw 4-4, the three-striker strategy (with Angel Correa instead of Griezmann) paid dividends for Simeone, with Flick later saying  it “was not easy to defend”.

Barca learned from that, though. In the second leg, when Simeone tried it again, Flick threw on Garcia and Araujo for Pau Cubarsi and Fermin Lopez in the 58th minute.

Like in their 1-0 victory away at Benfica in the Champions League round of 16, Araujo’s arrival prompted Barca’s defensive line to drop a few yards, as the comparison below makes clear.

The first grab shows Barcelona’s back line prior to Sorloth’s 93rd-minute equaliser in the first leg.

The grab below shows Barca’s backline in added time of the second leg.

Encouragingly for Barca, Araujo — who thrives in these situations rather than as part of a high defensive line — is picking up the nuances of their offside trap.

Atletico were caught offside four times in the second half of the second leg, including twice in one minute. The first resulted in Sorloth scoring — a goal later ruled out — but Araujo initially did well to hold his line despite being drawn to the ball.

The second saw him opt to not follow Griezmann, going against his natural tendencies.

Araujo’s physicality was useful too, as he battled Sorloth in open play and kept Atletico’s centre-backs at bay from set pieces. Two specific incidents highlighted his value.

The first in the 78th minute sees him duel Sorloth for a long ball and win it but fall to the turf under pressure as Kounde hacks his clearance upwards.

Sorloth prepares to attack the ball, but Araujo quickly stands up and gets ahead of the Atletico striker to steer a header up the pitch towards the dropping Frenkie de Jong.

The second incident was one of the final actions of the game. As Rodrigo De Paul swings in a free kick towards the penalty spot, Araujo leaps highest to clear.

Atletico win the second ball and work it to Pablo Barrios, who crosses into the box again. Barcelona push up but Atletico centre-backs Clement Lenglet and Jose Maria Gimenez keep themselves onside. Lenglet passes towards Gimenez, but Araujo is there again to hook it behind for a corner.

As Barcelona players appeal for an offside, Araujo briefly celebrates before directing them to their positions to defend the corner, which they do to seal the win.

While the Uruguayan was key out of possession, Garcia and Lewandowski were important when Barcelona had the ball.

Garcia’s impact was evident moments after he came on. After helping Alejandro Balde and Pedri defend a cross, he races into space to meet a pass from Raphinha, with Nahuel Molina slow to react.

Molina fouls Garcia to end a period of Atletico pressure.

Nine minutes later, the Spaniard was at it again, this time on the other flank. He receives Kounde’s pass in space…

… before bursting past four Atletico players (thanks to Lamine Yamal dragging Lenglet out of position).

This creates a three-on-two situation. Garcia passes to Torres, whose first touch allows Atletico to close him down.

There were other benefits to Garcia’s substitution too as he mixed darts forward with protecting the defence, which meant Pedri could operate as a No 8 and dictate the periods of sustained Barcelona possession late on, burning the clock.

With Torres off, De Jong supplied Barca’s rare runs in behind Atletico’s defence, with Lewandowski positioned in front of them.

The Poland international’s role — like in Barcelona’s win at Benfica — was to use his hold-up play.

Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny repeatedly targeted Lewandowski in the latter stages of the match. The best example of this came in the second minute of added time as Lewandowski got ahead of and leaped higher than Lenglet to guide Szczesny’s pass towards Raphinha.

The Brazilian carried the ball past Atletico’s defenders to the other flank before passing back, starting another stretch of Barcelona possession.

Lewandowski, who came off the bench to score in the first leg, got one of Barca’s three shots on target in the second half and helped them defend set pieces too.

Garcia, Araujo and Lewandowski combined to win seven of their 14 duels.

Araujo committed three fouls — all in Atletico’s half — while Garcia committed two to stop them from progressing forward, all of which proved crucial.

After the match, Flick said, “It’s always about the team. It’s not just 11 players. Every player who came in gave his best — this is how a team works.”

With six matches in all competitions between April 5 and 22, Barcelona will need more of the same.

(Top photo: Barcelona celebrate beating Atletico; by M Gracia Jimenez/Soccrates via Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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