Flick, on Lewandowski: “We have built the environment so that it performs better” | Soccer | Sports

There was no way to move Robert Lewandowski from Barcelona. It seemed as if the forward had a pending score with the Barça shirt, as if he needed to justify his status and salary in a big game, in one of those duels that are forever etched in the fans’ memory. At 36 years old, after winning the duel against Xavi Hernández – he wanted him out of the team – the Pole conquered the Santiago Bernabéu.

“Why has Robert improved?” said Hansi Flick; “It’s a question for him.” “But,” he added; “With my staff and Deco we had to build the environment in which the player could perform better. I think we have achieved it.” Content in the present, Lewandowski remembered the past. The Pole searched in the time machine, in his own time machine, to take over the home of Real Madrid. On April 24, 2013, when he was still wearing the Borussia Dortmund shirt, the Pole scored four goals for the whites to destroy the hope of the team then led by José Mourinho. But if he did it then at the Westfalenstadion, this Saturday, more than 10 years later, he did it again. But this time it was at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Lewandowski not only mocked the passing of time, but also gave air to a Barcelona that was suffering (a lot) to find the ball, without control of the game, far from Lunin’s goal. Hansi Flick knew what could happen, it was the risk he took. Luckily for him, he had the success of Lewandowski. The German coach is concerned, above all, about the pressure from Barcelona. “We have trained a lot how to defend and how to press. It is important when playing against Real Madrid. “It is an impressive team,” Flick stressed. A pressure always well executed by the Blaugrana, which reached its fiery week in the campaign, no less than before the visit of Bayern and the trip to the Bernabéu. The first test was passed in Montjuïc when Barcelona beat the German team on the magic mountain (4-1). The second was also resolved with a landslide. In both cases, in any case, Barça suffered.

As against Bayern, in Chamartín, offside was once again Barcelona’s best weapon to defend, at least in the first act until Flick opted to get involved in a team that was too vertical, without patience to string together attacks through the possession. The coach’s decision was a bet expected by the coach: the return of Frenkie de Jong. “I think we did well in the first half, we played with our defense very high. It seems dangerous, but the only thing that happens is that everyone has to travel more meters. We made the right changes and the players did very well. Obviously Robert showed his quality. But it’s about the team, defending and attacking well,” Flick explained.

De Jong was the first response from the German coach to try to regain control of a match that threatened to turn white in Chamartín. But Flick not only trusted the return of De Jong, he also knew that he had Dani Olmo to play for about 30 minutes. With Olmo and De Jong on the field, added to Pedri, Barcelona did not regain control of the match, but it did regain control of the score. “It was important to show how we could defend and press more. In the second half we saw more control of the ball and that’s why the game changed,” the German coach insisted. His changes defended him, but especially Lewandowski, who scored two goals, but it could have been four as on that night in 2013. But the Pole had two allies to remember his feat with Dortmund in Madrid: Lamine Yamal and Raphinha appeared to close the win at the Bernabéu. Barça won, Lewandowski triumphed, giving air to Hansi Flick’s risky bet.