Hansi Flick orchestrated victory over Atletico Madrid straight from the dugout, deploying Frenkie de Jong at right-back, making adjustments around Joao Cancelo and bolestering the defensive foundation with Andreas Christensen.
With the sides deadlocked at 1-1 at the interval, the German tactician pulled a surprise move by introducing the Dutchman in place of Brian Farinas. Rather than turning to Eric Garcia as anticipated, he deployed a central midfielder at full-back to create overloads inside and pin the hosts back towards their own penalty area.
Hansi Flick gave free rein to Lamine Yamal down the right wing while simultaneously recalibrating the defensive balance on the opposite flank. With Joao Cancelo enduring an off-night, the stage was set for Andreas Christensen to make his return on the hour mark, allowing Gerard Martin to slot straight in at left-back to stifle Marcos Llorente and Giuliano Simeone.
With the turnaround complete, FC Barcelona brought on Eric Garcia and Gavi to shore things up and seal a decisive 2-1 triumph. Were it not for the master tactician in the technical area, the Primera Division leaders might well have suffered a very different fate at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano. Tactical masterclasses win matches.
