Flick happy with the result of his tactical experiment with Barcelona star vs Real Betis | OneFootball

One of the biggest takeaways from Barcelona’s 5-1 demolition of Real Betis in the Copa del Rey last night was the success of Hansi Flick’s tactical experiment.

The manager opted to rotate his squad reasonably for the cup fixture after the win in El Clasico and thus rested Robert Lewandowski on the night. Instead of opting for a forward in his place, however, he deployed Dani Olmo.

The Spaniard’s role on the night, thus, was as a false-nine – a position that was initially popularised by Pep Guardiola’s utilisation of Lionel Messi at Barcelona.

A massive success

As relayed by Mundo Deportivo in a recent update, Hansi Flick is very happy with how his experiment on the night turned out and is encouraged to use it as a solution moving forward.

The faith in Lewandowski remains complete and the Polish striker will remain the team’s biggest attacking resource more often than not.

Flick happy with the results of using Olmo as the false-nine. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Given his age, however, the need to rotate him arises more often and the false-nine plan fits in there.

Last night’s result proved to Flick that he does not require a forward to fill the void created by Lewandowski’s absence and that fielding Olmo as a false-nine can elevate the chances of the profiles around him in front of goal.

As seen last night, the Euro 2024 top scorer was a thorn in the foot for Real Betis’ defence who simply did not know how to control his movements.

As a result, Pedri, Gavi, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Frenkie de Jong feasted on the distracted defence.

Moving ahead with this campaign, it is thus likely that the manager will continue using Olmo as a replacement when the striker is to be rested.

Needless to say, the successful experiment also encourages the coach to use the dynamic to alter the flow of a game on need as a tactical change as well.