At a glance
- In a surprise move from Hansi Flick, Dani Olmo was deployed as a false ‘9’ against Atletico Madrid.
- The Spain international provided the assist for Marcus Rashford, was overall impressive in the key 2-1 La Liga victory.
- He could be favoured in the role over Ferran Torres and Robert Lewandowski moving forward.
Dani Olmo gave FC Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick something to think about at the Metropolitano.
For a crunch La Liga match against Atletico Madrid on Saturday night, the German made a bold move typical of his courage.
Snubbing both Ferran Torres and Robert Lewandowski, Flick fielded Dani Olmo as a false ‘9’ in a gamble that paid dividends.
Olmo paid back Flick’s faith in him during a crunch match for Barcelona
With Olmo as always operating well in tight spaces that Diego Simeone’s side leave, the Spain international looked on it from the start.
Instead of panicking when Guiliano Simeone put the hosts in front on 39 minutes, he kept his usual cool head when completing a 1-2 paret with Marcus Rashford shortly after.
Making no mistake from close quarters, the Englishman took his chance to shine in Raphinha’s absence and smashed a low driven shot through Juan Musso’s legs.
Olmo continued to play a key part in Barcelona’s huge victory
Moved to a CAM role as Fermin hit the bench and Ferran came on, Olmo continued to be dangerous.
He could’ve easily had an assist had Ferran converted a shot put on a plate for him. But his overall display in a 2-1 win that put the Catalans seven points clear didn’t go unnoticed.
Receiving a second-highest 7.6 rating from WhoScored? the Terrassa native completed 39 passes at a 87% accuracy and also made an important tackle amid 21 interventions.
His display and versatility led voices such as Alex Delmas to quip that with Olmo as a false 9, “Barca are more different to control”.
This is because Olmo “raises doubts with position exchanges”, and is a “very powerful weapon”. And as said, he gave Flick something to think about with one of his best all-round displays of the season.
Flick now has a decision to make on his Barcelona line up
It could now be a case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” for Wednesday’s Champions League quarterfinal against Atleti.
Flick could again go for Olmo in the false ‘9’ role, who gives him urgency and great link up play.
Despite losing a yard of pace, though, Lewandowski scored the winner in the Metropolitano and has unrivalled Champions League pedigree.
SPORT reports that Flick rested the Pole because of his World Cup playoff involvement, and analyst Lluis Carreras expects him to start at Camp Nou in the first leg.
In this kind of form, though, Olmo might then get the nod over Fermin. That’s if he isn’t the ‘9’, threatening Lewy and Ferran’s standing.
