How Hansi Flick helped Barcelona defender deliver a solid display against Benfica | OneFootball

Barcelona’s triumph over SL Benfica in the UEFA Champions League has helped them seal a place in the quarterfinals where they will take on last season’s runners-up, Borussia Dortmund.

However, the win over Benfica was far from straight-forward for Barcelona and it required some excellent planning from coach Hansi Flick to get them over the line.

One of the tactical provisions that was made by Flick in the lead-up to the second-leg clash against Benfica was to have a backup ready for Pau Cubarsi.

How Flick planned the Benfica tie around Araujo

Ever since Cubarsi picked up an early red card against Benfica in the first leg, Flick had already started to plan his integration process for Ronald Araujo, reports SPORT.

Despite some reports suggesting Araujo had fallen down the pecking order, Flick had no doubts about the Uruguayan’s importance.

When Cubarsi was shown the red card, the German tactician acted swiftly by bringing on Araujo, whose physicality and defensive instincts made him the ideal choice to help Barcelona weather the storm.

Araujo enjoyed a fine game vs Benfica. (Photo by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images)

The defender, despite coming on cold, put in a commanding performance in Portugal, which further helped reinforce Flick’s belief in his abilities.

Flick had originally planned to test Araujo in the right centre-back role against Osasuna, but the match was suspended due to the tragic passing of Dr. Carles Minarro.

Instead, the coach relied on the intensive training sessions and video analysis he had been providing for Araujo to fine-tune the defender’s adaptation to his system.

Flick expected Benfica to target Araujo’s distribution, much like PSG did under Luis Enrique last season.

To counter this, he prepared alternative setups, including using Frenkie de Jong as a deep-lying playmaker between the centre-backs.

Additionally, Jules Kounde played deeper to offer support, and Olmo positioned himself closer to the defensive line.

Ultimately, Flick’s gamble paid off as Araujo ended up producing a solid display at the heart of Barcelona’s four-man backline.