Flick has absolutely no intention of abandoning his high line, though. "We are Barca, and we play with our DNA," he declared in Bruges. "I won't change our style out of fear of losing. I'm not going to sit back and defend a 1-0 lead. This isn’t about the philosophy. We can do things better. Everyone has to play in their correct position and press. It's not the team’s best moment. But we can play at another level."
They'll certainly have to if they're to win the Champions League, having conceded seven times in last season's semi-final loss to Inter and failed to keep a clean sheet in a single game so far this time around. Such generosity won't prevent them from making the knockout stage, of course, but, with just seven points on the board after four rounds, their hopes of a top-eight finish would take a massive hit if they were to lose at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.
There is, thus, a feeling around Barcelona right now that they're making life more difficult for themselves than it should be. "Why insist on a plan doomed to fail?" Gullit asked on beIN Sports. "Every turnover is an open invitation to a counter-attack. You can't win European titles playing like that." Flick believes otherwise, though, and why wouldn't he? He won the Champions League playing the same way with Bayern Munich in 2020.
He also insists that the high line isn't as "dangerous" as it looks. But even the players that enjoy adopting such an adventurous approach have referred to it as a "risk"; it's just one that they and their coach are willing to take.
For how much longer is up for the debate. World Cup winner Frank Leboeuf says he'd refuse to play in a defence operating such a high line ("I wouldn't want to look like a fool!"), while former Barca midfielder Gerard Lopez feels it's time for a change. "It's one thing to push forward and do it well, as Flick's done on many occasions, and another to be... suicidal," he said. "He's been here for a year and a half now, and we have to be critical of this Barca in terms of the way they defend."
Flick clearly won't be swayed by experts like Gerard and Henry, though. The Barca boss is going to keep doing the same thing in the Champions League this season in the hope that this season yields different results. Whether that's insane or inspired remains to be seen, but either way, Barca will remain a TV executive's dream.