Flick’s approach also drew criticism following a run of poor results in the autumn. Among others, former Real Madrid strategist Toni Kroos suggested that Barca would not win the Champions League with this style of play. Guardiola’s former protégé Thierry Henry made similar comments.
However, the Frenchman backtracked last week following the 7-2 thrashing in the Champions League round of 16 second leg against Newcastle United, praising them on CBS Sports: “Congratulations, Barcelona. Europe is beginning to feel the threat. When a team is on such a roll, nothing is certain. That wasn’t just a triumph, it was a global earthquake.”
What particularly impressed Henry was how Barca shaped the second 45 minutes after their shaky 3-2 half-time lead. “What a second half was that?” he asked. “It was a total transformation; the team played with a different personality. That was the real Barcelona. If they want to, they can do anything. That’s an incredible team.”
Henry was even reminded of Johan Cruyff’s legendary Dream Team from the early 1990s by the attacking whirlwind of Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski and their teammates, and felt sorry for opponents Newcastle: “Newcastle collapsed against this attacking force. When Barcelona play like that, it’s almost impossible to stop them.”