Toni Kroos names 2 things Flick must fix if Barcelona are to win Champions League

Real Madrid legend Toni Kroos is the latest to criticise Barcelona's defensive line after the Blaugrana were handed an embarrassing 4-1 defeat to Sevilla a few days after they were beaten 2-1 by PSG in the Champions League. 

Hansi Flick is famed for laying a big defensive line. While it worked to a large extent last season, as Barcelona won the domestic treble, the flaws in the setup were evident at multiple points last campaign, including the UCL semifinal defeat to Inter. 

This season, Barcelona have been inferior in at least three matches: against Rayo Vallecano earlier in the season and their two most recent games against PSG and Sevilla.

 In both games, the flaw in Barcelona's setup was aggressively exploited. Hence, while Kroos enjoys the way they play, he noted that changes had to be made. He also said Flick needed to be more flexible latter stages of games when fatigue sets in, to help his team close out games better.

“Barcelona has one of the most attractive styles of play in Europe… the most attractive in Europe,” he said, per GFNS. “But they take so many risks that, on a bad day for Pedri, Lamine Yamal, or Raphinha, any team can hurt them and eliminate them from the Champions League.

“It already happened to them last year with Inter Milan (in the Champions League semi-finals) and this year, whether in the round of 16, the quarter-finals, the semi-finals or the final, at some point they will come up against an opponent like that. This will happen to Barcelona in the Champions League.

“Especially from the 75th minute onwards, you notice that everyone is more tired and doesn’t change their style to close down the spaces. If you’re tired and don’t change your style of play, it becomes very obvious how exposed you are.”