On Saturday night, an optimist, a pessimist and a pragmatist will walk into the Santiago Bernabeu. Barcelona manager Hansi Flick completely ignored the unseasonable gloom hanging over the Catalan capital, after a summer involving a break-up so messy that it is spoken about in hushed tones. Meanwhile Carlo Ancelotti furrows his brow, and you would imagine raises his eyebrow, about the backline, while everyone wrings their hands over whether the left half of the Bernabeu green was sufficient space for both Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior to coexist.

Flick came into a club that had been battered in the big games, bruised by a series of injuries to key players, and broke by the still weighty salary bill. Only Dani Olmo and Pau Victor arrived to fix what looked like numerous issues, and the lack of Nico Williams spoke to an impotency sufficient to knock the confidence of any bully discovering they are no longer the biggest. Every analysis ended with one too many questions for them to realistically give Real Madrid a run for the money spent on Kylian Mbappe’s wages.

Flick: “Catching a lot of opposing forwards offside? We have many coaches who study this. This is our philosophy. We want to press, press the ball, the ball holder. We must be close, play compactly. When there is too much space between lines, we don’t do well. We were good in…

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) October 25, 2024

That has since been washed away by a tidal wave of optimism, as Barcelona racked up the goals, and blew away several oppositions. Flick’s belief in the talent at his disposal has converted Barcelona into a side that thinks first about how they can hurt the other team, and then how to deal with their threats. The latest of which was Bayern Munich, in a fashion that electrified Barcelona fans. Vincent Kompany’s side tried to raise the tempo of the game repeatedly, seeking to obliterate a backline that was creaking. By minute sixty, Bayern were left confused and listless, after Barcelona ran with them, and in Raphinha’s case, past them.

Few teams have more experience in recent history of taking apart Barcelona, often with condescending ease. What they found was a side convinced they could live with their bigger, faster and more expensive counterparts. It was bold, ambitious, brave and all the other adjectives that described their high line by commentators that struggled to keep the doubt from their voice. For the first time in years on a European night, Barcelona were a team that understood the game, understood where they should be, and trusted their teammates to be in the right place too.

Barcelona have scored 43 goals in just 13 games in all competitions this season

That’s an average of over three goals per game under Hansi Flick

UNREAL pic.twitter.com/lFe8efkW8J

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 24, 2024

Absolutes are for taberna talk though, and Flick has made alterations to cater to his squad. Robert Lewandowski now plays closer to goal, and is asked to finish moves, not Lionel Messi them. Without the ball, he drops to the deeper midfielder for the opposition, allowing the younger and more spry wingers to jump up on the central defenders. The German asks Raphinha to run into space not stick to one, and against Bayern, the 40% possession probably wasn’t intentional, but it was a sign of intent with the ball.

That high line is an obvious point of vulnerability, and Bayern nearly got in with long passes on several occasions, just as Sevilla did last weekend, much like Lille and Osasuna in Barcelona’s defeats this year. Yet with Flick there is a confidence that they will execute the advantages gained from the high line more often than the opponent. So far only Los Rojillo and Lille have risen to the challenge of beating it, with mitigating circumstances included.

“Now we play against Real Madrid, and all the players are very prepared. I trust my players because they are doing great – with more possession and in attacks, with and without the ball. We have shown it and we will continue to show it.”

Hansi Flick is confident for #ElClasico. pic.twitter.com/3Kp9SjJmaF

— Football España (@footballespana_) October 25, 2024

On the other side of El Clasico is – ‘I like my defenders to be pessimists’ – the Ancelotti phrase that has given so much to the coverage of Real Madrid over the last two years. The Italian does not shun attacking football or attacking players by any means, and calling his football pessimistic would be malicious. All the same, his second spell in the Spanish capital has been based on the fundamental belief that if his side can limit the opposition to one or no goals, they have the quality to resolve matters at the other end. There is an emphasis on the defence that not all Real Madrid managers have stressed.

If the 2022 Champions League run was a cinematic masterpiece, the 2024 edition was the perfect extrapolation of that on the pitch, as Dani Carvajal, Antonio Rudiger and Ferland Mendy starred just as much if not more than Rodrygo Goes, in a side that played without a natural number nine from the start. Last season Real Madrid had the best defence in the league, and this year they are currently second in that metric, just a goal behind Atletico Madrid. Most of the conversation has been about their slightly underwhelming performances in attack, most of Ancelotti’s talk has still been about attitude and working harder in defence.

This weekend presents an absorbing puzzle for Ancelotti. Andriy Lunin’s biggest flaw is that he is not the best goalkeeper in the world, while Lucas Vazquez is by nature an optimist at right-back. At least, compared to Dani Carvajal, as evidenced by his man of the match performance last Clasico, involving a goal and two assists. Jude Bellingham and Fede Valverde will no doubt start behind Mbappe and Vinicius, and then Ancelotti must choose from Arda Guler, Luka Modric, Dani Ceballos, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga. One of the latter two will undoubtedly add legs and ballast, but where will Ancelotti’s priorities lie?

Carlo Ancelotti:

“The team is good, motivated. The Clasicos are competitive and hard-fought matches, also entertaining. We want to do well in front of our fans. Barcelona have a very clear idea of the game, they are doing very well.” pic.twitter.com/vSssi0t93W

— Football España (@footballespana_) October 25, 2024

Real Madrid could seek first and foremost the final pass with Modric, or perhaps more possession with Ceballos. Both of Camavinga and Tchouameni would potentially overpower Barcelona, giving Los Blancos a better chance to win the ball back quickly and launch into space. An iron, and admittedly earned, faith in Modric and balance will be pitted against caution and the need to “get the ball to our attackers faster, as we have attackers who are good in space,” in the Italian’s words.

Yet perhaps the lack of players who excel at passing their way out of pressure would only egg Barcelona’s press on more? Cast back to the 2022 Champions League final against an exhausting Liverpool, and it is hard to imagine Real Madrid toying with their press without and Toni Kroos, and with Modric literally the oldest player in their history.

Flick’s line has been clear so far: an approach rooted in the belief that his forwards are worth the risk at the back, and his defence can execute a serious of tricky decisions and timings enough of the time. Ancelotti’s inherent belief that Real Madrid will score means keeping a clean sheet is the most straightforward route to victory, but there are a number of ways to go about achieving that. Which one is the pragmatist? We’ll have to wait for the result to find out.

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