They say perfection doesn't exist, although Nadia Comaneci showed us otherwise at the Montreal Olympics, but whether it exists or not, performance can always be improved. FC Barcelona, against all odds, has brushed it in different phases of the current season, and must continue its pursuit for the 25/26 campaign if it wants to keep at the top. Few complaints can be made about Hansi Flick's team, but such is the opportunity this team has to mark a turning point in modern soccer, that the focus must be on what needs to be perfected to start working on it right away.
The Barça fan has greatly enjoyed the offensive play of this Barça, a team that has achieved scandalous figures in terms of goals scored. But they have also suffered excessively in defense. Not because of the performance of their defenders, who have had a great season, but because of the daring approach proposed by Flick that, on specific occasions, resembled a sporting suicide. The same German coach confessed in a press conference that they need to work this summer, especially on the defensive side, to fine-tune the mechanisms a bit more so that the opponent can't easily stand alone in front of the blaugrana goal. Not a reproach to the play style that has brought FC Barcelona a national treble, but with a slightly less risky defensive approach, perhaps the Champions League would also have been part of the parade.
In the same vein, a bit more calm at the start of the matches wouldn't hurt, to prevent the opponent from taking the lead on the scoreboard right away. It's true that comebacks make victories twice as enjoyable, but having to come back shouldn't become a habit, and unfortunately, it has been in recent weeks. In almost all scenarios, the feat ended up going well, but it's inevitable to think that against Inter, both in the first and second leg, not conceding an initial 2-0 could have changed the outcome of the tie. It will be the coach's job to lower the revolutions of a young squad that, at the moment of the initial whistle, wants to devour the opponent raw, when perhaps what the match demands is to cook it slowly.
Set-piece play has also done a lot of damage to Flick's team this season. It's curious that, in attack, the Barça team has managed to take advantage of the strategy, but at the back, they have conceded goals from lateral free kicks and corners with some ease. It will also be Flick and his coaching staff's job, in the coming months, to find a way to minimize the damage in this area, as eradicating this problem is impossible when you are not a team specifically designed to base your soccer on aerial play.
Perfection may or may not exist, but if the blaugrana team works on the aspects to improve this coming summer, the resulting Barça for the 2025/26 season could be a title-winning machine. An improved version, as impossible as it may seem, of the one that has delighted us in the current season.