Three things for Hansi Flick to ponder ahead of Barcelona vs Inter Milan 2nd leg at San Siro | OneFootball

Although FC Barcelona played a thrilling 3-3 draw against Inter Milan in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, that would have been an eye-candy for the neutral football watchers, this isn’t the result Hansi Flick would have hoped for coming into the game.

Playing at Estadi de Montjuïc, Barcelona would have wanted to take some sort of a lead with them going into the second leg at the San Siro, but this is how the cookie crumbled. If Hansi Flick’s men want to be in Munich for the final, they need to do it the hard way.

Make no mistake, this isn’t something impossible for this Barcelona team. In fact, they have already set a precedent for the same, in the Copa del Rey, where Atletico Madrid held the Catalan side to a 4-4 draw at the Montjuic but lost 1-0 to them at their home to bow out of the competition.

There were quite a few positives for Barcelona in the game, but also a few points for Hansi Flick to ponder and work on ahead of the second leg at San Siro, and we at Sempre Barca bring to you three such potential areas for the German coach to think about.

Barcelona midfielder Dani Olmo defending a corner during Barcelona vs Inter Milan. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

1: Defending set-pieces

There are a lot of things that you can say about Inzaghi’s Inter Milan, and one of them is that they are a team filled with physical monsters. This is a clear mismatch with the Barcelona team, which is mostly made up of diminutive players.

Inter had so many threats from set-pieces last night to overwhelm Barcelona, and this did play into their hands, with two of the Serie A side’s goals on the night coming from corners. Dani Olmo marking Denzel Dumfries? Seriously?

Hansi Flick needs to find a solution to dealing with corners at San Siro, as they cannot afford to make the same mistake that they did at the Estadi de Montjuïc. The return of Robert Lewandowski should help in this regard, but the German coach might also consider shuffling the defense and bringing in Ronald Araujo.

One more player who will have to be more aware during set-pieces is Szczesny, who had a rare off-day against Inter on the night. He will be keen to channelize his best form in a stadium he knows well from his time at Juventus, and let’s wait and see how it plays out.

Both Balde and Lewandowski might be crucial to Barcelona at the San Siro. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

2: Barcelona’s non-existent left flank dynamic

One just has to look at the games against Real Madrid and Inter Milan that have happened over the last week to understand just what Alejandro Balde means to this Hansi Flick team. He might be the third most important player to Barcelona after Pedri and Lamine Yamal.

In the absence of Balde, the left flank dynamic is non-existent going forward and extremely vulnerable defensively. Gerard Martin is very limited in what he is able to offer and and Denzel Dumfries ran him ragged throughout the first half last night.

Balde is also very important in giving Raphinha the freedom to drift in which is when he is at his dangerous best, and it comes as very good news to fans and Hansi Flick alike that the Spaniard is likely to be ready to start at the San Siro next week.

Having the 21-year-old back would be a huge plus for Barcelona and immediately make them so much better in all facets of play. It could prove to be a key deciding factor in the next game, and let’s wait and see how it develops.

Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick on the sidelines. (Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)

3: Hansi Flick should use Dani Olmo more

Yes, Lamine Yamal played like a man possessed last night, which automatically meant that his teammates kept searching for him whenever possible, but if Barcelona want to be more unpredictable in their approach to break down Inter, they need to start using Dani Olmo more.

There aren’t many players in the world who are better than the Spaniard playing in between the lines, and whenever he has played for Spain, he has always showcased his penchant to step up in big games. Last night, Barcelona didn’t use Olmo enough.

Olmo is extremely efficient in escaping pressure by quick touches around the corner, and if he can be more involved at San Siro than he has been in the past couple of games against Real Madrid and Inter Milan, it would increase Barcelona’s goalscoring threat.

The only question mark with regards to the 26-year-old is if he can handle the physicality of the Inter Milan defenders, but if he does start next week, it is something that Flick will be looking to work on to bring him more into the game.