La Blaugrana were facing a 2-goal deficit in Lisbon after Benfica had managed to score 4 past Wojciech Szczesny. In the face of adversity, the man at the wheel Hansi Flick did not panic and made key substitutions in the 74th minute. Eric Garcia replaced Kounde and Ferran Torres replaced Balde. Culers all around the world including me were confused and concerned about this move but it ended up winning the game for us.
Creating overloads against Benfica’s wall
These substitutions changed Barca’s formation into a 3-2-5 which meant:
- Araujo, Garcia and Cubarsi in a back 3.
- Pedri and Frenkie in a double pivot.
- Fermin stretched the pitch on the left wing and Lamine on the right with Raphinha, Ferran and Lewandowski in the middle.
Benfica’s defense ended up confused and unable to stop the constant inbehind runs by Ferran which also created space for Raphinha and Lewandowski to receive the ball. Covering the front 5 of Barca meant Benfica left a lot of space in front of their box for the artistic maestro Pedri who kept on creating chances for his attack. His persistence bore fruit after he assisted Garcia to equalize the score.
Ferran crowns himself as the super sub for Barca.
Ferran Torres delivered the match-winning assist for Raphinha with an excellent through ball but his overall performance went under the radar. In the short time that the forward spent on the pitch, he created 2 chances and provided an assist. He kept on changing positions in Benfica’s box to confuse the defense and make room for his teammates.
In Conclusion, Hansi Flick once again demonstrated that he possesses elite tactical knowledge of the game and the mentality that Barca fans have demanded for so long. Every player he brought on made a key impact on the game to complete Barca’s remontada.
