The 2 changes Hansi Flick should make to Barcelona line-up after narrow Valencia win | OneFootball

Barcelona’s opening day downing of Valencia in La Liga on Saturday night laid bare for new head coach Hansi Flick some immediate improvements which could be made to his XI.

Barca, of course, are fresh off marking their return to action.

After making the trip to Mestalla for an opening day meeting with Valencia, a brace on the part of Robert Lewandowski proved enough to guide the Blaugrana to the right side of a 2-1 result.

Over the course of the 90 minutes, a number of the visitors’ stars impressed, from Raphinha to youngster Marc Bernal and the returning Alejandro Balde.

And yet, several others, for the most part, struggled.

The two leading figures when it came to as much were Iñigo Martínez, and Ferran Torres.

The former looked altogether shaky from his berth at the heart of defence, whilst Ferran was a passenger across his time on the pitch, after being afforded a chance to impress on the left wing.

The Barcelona faithful have since made crystal clear their frustrations with both, amid calls for the two Spaniards to be dropped to the bench next time out.

And obvious solutions lie in store for the aforementioned Flick and his coaching staff.

When it comes to Iñigo’s replacement, Andreas Christensen should at this point be considered as close to an undisputed starter alongside Pau Cubarsí.

And stepping in for Ferran should be Raphinha, whose performances on the left wing proved more than satisfactory towards the close of last season.

This would leave the ’10’ role which the Brazilian filled at Mestalla open for a more natural fit, with Flick boasting a trio of fine options in Dani Olmo, Pedri, and Fermín López.

Others could of course also be reintroduced, including İlkay Gündoğan, but these two changes look the most glaring based on tonight’s evidence.

Conor Laird | GSFN