€80m weapon redeployed: How Hansi Flick can nullify Inter Milan’s Lamine trap — Opinion | OneFootball

FC Barcelona have the biggest game of their season on the horizon as they embark on a difficult away trip to Italy to take on Serie A giants Inter Milan. There was nothing to separate the two teams at the Estadi de Montjuïc last weekend, as the first leg score reads 3-3 ahead of the second leg at San Siro.

Ahead of the game in Milan, Inter’s coach Inzaghi and Alessandro Bastoni made no attempts to hide their admiration for Barcelona youngster Lamine Yamal and openly admitted that the plan was to double-mark him or triple-mark him to ensure the Spaniard isn’t allowed to influence the game.

At the age of just 17, such is the threat of the Spaniard that opponents are openly admitting that it is almost impossible to mark him without the help of additional bodies. What the teenager did against the same side at the Montjuïc last weekend is beyond explanation and would surely have left the Italians scrambling.

Simone Inzaghi’s Lamine Trap

Lamine Yamal celebrates after scoring for Barcelona against Inter Milan. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Coming into this game, it is now very clear that Inzaghi has devised a Lamine trap, and this is something Barcelona need to be wary of. The Inter team is made up of excellent one-on-one defenders, and if there is any team in the world who are capable of marking a player out of a game, it is them.

If Lamine’s influence on the game is nullified, it reduces Barcelona’s effectiveness quite significantly. It gives Inter a chance to reduce the Catalan club’s goalscoring opportunities, but at the same time, also ensure that their attacking impetus is spot on and that they manage to score goals.

How Hansi Flick Could Nullify the Lamine Trap

We at Sempre Barca think Hansi Flick can do something ingenious to nullify the Lamine trap that Inter Milan have devised. The German coach has proven many times across this campaign that he is an excellent tactician and reader of the game, and he will surely be thinking about the same.

More defenders on Lamine means fewer defenders elsewhere, and this is where Barcelona can look to take advantage. In the absence of Alejandro Balde, it has been evident for some time now that the Catalan club’s left-side dynamic is almost non-existent, but what if Flick can switch things up?

Ahead of the game, it is expected that Flick will line up with the following front-four: Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Raphinha, and Ferran Torres, and that is the perfect personnel to execute this plan. Normally, the teenager would start on the right, the Brazilian on the left, Olmo as the #10, and Ferran leading the line as the #9.

The Left-Field Choice

Barcelona forward Raphinha celebrating after scoring a goal. (Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)

A small rearranging of this forward line could help Barcelona nullify the Lamine trap. Flick can consider moving Raphinha into the number 10 position, move Olmo forward as the false nine, and put Ferran Torres on the left, tasked with stretching the pitch as much as possible.

None of these players are strangers to the positions mentioned above, and for starters, it could throw Inter off as this might not be something they had planned for. It could pull their defenders all over the place, which would instantly give Barcelona more space to work with.

What this also ensures is that Barcelona’s best creators are all playing very closely alongside Lamine Yamal, on whom the attention is set to be. Pedri can push up, Olmo can drop deep, and the €80 million-rated Brazilian can roam around to ensure that they all play in close proximity to take advantage of the attention on Lamine.

Meanwhile, Ferran, who is extremely clever at making runs, can make out-and-in runs from the left flank, timing them to perfection to ensure that these creative players can find him. The likes of Olmo, Pedri, Raphinha, and Lamine can all interchange and cause chaos, from which they can potentially profit.

Potential Challenges for Hansi Flick

Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

The first and foremost challenge that the team will face is that this is a new system that they will be trying out in a game of this magnitude. Although the players are no strangers to these roles, it would still be a huge gamble that Hansi Flick is taking at the biggest stage this season.

The other potential challenge could be Barcelona’s pressing structure, which would have to change based on this system, and if they do not get this right, Inter would be able to get behind their high line with utmost ease. Thus, there are tangibles to consider before Flick decides to do the same.

Sempre Barca opinion

Although Hansi Flick is unlikely to experiment at this stage of the season, this is just a tactical idea that we would like to float around. Ultimately, it is the German coach who knows best, and he will surely have made elaborate plans for this big game. Let’s wait and see how it plays out at the San Siro. Visca el Barca!