The start of the season can always raise doubts. Legs feel heavy after the first weeks of work, the high temperatures turn matches into marathons, and the coach's plans sometimes haven't had enough time to be implemented. Fortunately for Barça's interests, this isn't the case. Flick's Barça doesn't seem to have been on vacation for nearly two months, since the performance in Mallorca was just as outstanding as what was shown in the last matches of the previous season. The same suffocating pressure up front, the same monopoly of the ball in midfield, the same intensity when it comes to winning the ball back, and the same risky high defensive line. If something has worked for you, why change it.
Barça keeps giving people plenty to talk about on the institutional side, but nobody can deny that, strictly in sporting terms, it leaves no one indifferent. At Son Moix, before the referee decided to take center stage and blow up the match, Flick's side had already made a clear statement of intent. Lamine, with an even better version of himself than before, drove his marker crazy in every single move he tried down the wing. Raphinha found the net again with extreme ease. Pedri, together with Frenkie de Jong, kept controlling the tempo of the match at will. Balde was once again a dagger down the left wing. The rest, with a more than remarkable team performance, helped keep the machine well-oiled already on the first matchday of La Liga.
The doubts that could have arisen have vanished in the blink of an eye. Yes, Barça won a domestic treble last season, but it has shown that it still keeps a voracious appetite for trophies intact heading into this season. Flick's second year could have brought with it less intensity in play, due to a slightly more comfortable squad, but judging by what was seen in Mallorca, it's clear that the German coach has managed to keep his players fully engaged so that this season they carry the label of favorites in every competition they play.
On top of all this, we must add the arrival of Joan García. After all the embarrassment suffered to finalize his registration, it seems that the goalkeeper from Sallent will be able to start showing the reasons why any expert already considers him today the best goalkeeper on the national scene. He doesn't lack qualities, among which his feline reflexes stand out, reminiscent of the best goalkeepers that exist and have ever existed. In Mallorca, he handled the little work he had correctly. Looking ahead to future matches, once again the extremely high defensive line Flick sets up will mean he'll have to face more than one one-on-one against opposing forwards.
The 2025/26 season has kicked off and the best thing, from a Barça perspective, is that nothing has changed since June. The strengths of FC Barcelona back then are still the same today, and for those of us who've seen teams that seemed to have everything to mark an era fall spectacularly, that's an incalculable achievement. Flick's side have started the season just as they finished the last one, extremely switched on. Now it's time to keep up all that intensity throughout the months, in a campaign full of challenges where, in many cases, the blaugrana side is the team to beat. Fasten your seatbelts, because the race has already begun.