Barcelona in the Temptation of “Gegenpressing”

BARCELONA, SATURDAY – Ahead of hosting Real Betis, one thing is troubling Hansi Flick's mind. The Barcelona coach has yet to find an effective formula to address his team's weakness in countering opponents' counterattacks. The "gegenpressing" method is highly worth trying as a solution. Betis is the perfect opponent to test it.

When we controlled the ball, we saw fantastic speed. However, many teams know how to capitalize on our mistakes when they are in possession of the ball.

Barca continues its efforts to distance itself from the pursuit of Real Madrid in second place. Betis, currently on a positive trend, has the potential to become a stumbling block in the match held at Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium, Barcelona, Sunday (6/4/2025) at 2:00 AM WIB. Amid efforts to pull away from Real, Flick is still troubled by unresolved weaknesses in Barca's gameplay. Flick's pressing style with a high defensive line poses significant risks to Barca from opponents' counterattack schemes.

"When we control the ball, we see fantastic speed. However, many teams know how to exploit our mistakes when they are in possession. That is why we must focus on this and eliminate opportunities for the opponents. Nothing more than that. Sometimes we can give too much space for counterattacks, and that is what we want to eliminate," said Flick during a press conference session ahead of the match, Friday evening (5/4/2025) WIB.

Flick's high defensive line style of play aims to trap opponents in an offside position. This ability had made Barca feared at the beginning of the season. Kylian Mbappe was fooled by Barca's offside trap during the "El Clasico" duel. The Real striker was caught offside eight times and ended in a crushing 0-4 defeat for Real.

However, as time went on, other teams began to be able to overcome Barca's high defensive line. One of them was Benfica who was able to manipulate Barca's tactics by releasing diagonal passes. There were one to two attackers who were deliberately placed in an offside position to trick Barca's defenders, while the ball was passed to the wingers who were not offside.

Over time, Barca's high defensive line method is increasingly exposed. Barca cannot always rely on the offside trap to win the match. Flick is now looking for an anti-formula that could be a solution. Of the many solution options, the choice of using Juergen Klopp's "gegenpressing" method could be a consideration for Flick.

”Gegenpressing” or counter-pressing was popularized by Klopp while he was still managing Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool. This style of play attacks the opponent’s carelessness when trying to build an attack from below. The main requirement of ”gegenpressing” is the prime physical endurance of the players to never tire of pressing the opponent from the defensive area.

This method is worth trying by Flick, who, like Klopp, was raised in the culture of German football. By continuously pressing the opponent when they are in possession of the ball, the chances of Barca launching a counterattack can be minimized as much as possible.

Flick did not explicitly state that he would try the "gegenpressing" method when hosting Betis. He only mentioned that he needed players in good physical condition to achieve optimal results.

"We have to manage the effort of our players. We need every player and we will need fresh players against Betis," he said.

Facing Betis could be said to be a perfect test for Barca's weaknesses. The team coached by Manuel Pellegrini is very dangerous in counter-attack schemes. League statistics show that Betis is in the top five teams with the most counter-attack goals (4 goals). This is what makes Betis one of the transition expert teams in Spain.

Betis are currently enjoying their honeymoon under Pellegrini. They are challenging Barca on a six-game winning streak in the league. Pellegrini's typical tactics are a combination of long balls, lightning counter-attacks, danger from set pieces and solid defense.

In the first meeting at Betis headquarters, Barca successfully stole a point in a match that ended in a 2-2 draw. This time, Pellegrini is determined to give a surprise back at Barca's headquarters.

"Like Leganes and Las Palmas did, or like we did here in the first half of the season, where we created a lot of chances to beat them," Pellegrini was quoted as saying by Mundo Deportivo.

However, Betis will not be at full strength following the suspension of creative midfielder Isco. Pellegrini will instead have Giovani Lo Celso as playmaker.