Hansi Flick’s overlooked triumph: Restoring Barcelona youngster’s top form | OneFootball

One of the main points of difference in the results obtained by Xavi’s FC Barcelona teams in the season when they won the La Liga title and the succeeding one in which they ended trophyless was the performance of Alejandro Balde.

In his first regular season with the first team, the young full-back allowed Xavi to field a young Gavi on the left side of his midfield without being concerned too much with the left wing, where Balde regularly advanced to provide another outlet in attack.

However, he began the following season in underwhelming form, far from his best, and then spent most of it sidelined with an injury, requiring a significant amount of time to regain his peak performance.

As SPORT has noted, Hansi Flick deserves full credit for the full-back’s return to his best form, which remains one of his less-recognised successes with the Barcelona team.

As was the case with Gavi two seasons ago, the Spanish defender’s speed and energy on the left side of the pitch allow Raphinha to play a much more central role than his position as a right winger suggests on paper.

With Balde covering for him, the Brazilian winger is now able to freely move between the lines and attack spaces without having to worry about leaving the left wing uncovered.

Photo by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images

The fullback is also enjoying one of his best physical levels, for which Flick also deserves credit. The German coach usually gives him a rest by playing Gerard Martin in games against less difficult opponents, which allows Balde to perform at his best at the highest level.

Furthermore, the defender is high on confidence, which allows him to make the best decisions with or without the ball, and there has been a clear improvement with his crossing.

His goal contributions have also been quite high this season, as he has 1 goal and 7 assists to his name up to now.

Thus, with Flick paying special care to his performances, Balde continues to develop and is already among the best full-backs in the world, with his recent display against Benfica serving as proof of his progress.