Hansi Flick had done an excellent job of ensuring he didn’t succumb to Barcelona’s infamous “entorno” during a mightily successful debut season, but the German is finding it much harder in year two.
The serene La Liga title defense he wished for hasn’t come to pass at the start of the 2025–26 campaign, with Barça, marred by injuries, in a competitive battle with Real Madrid at the division’s summit.
The champions looked on course for another disappointing result on Saturday, with a struggling Girona side just about resisting Barcelona’s advances after canceling out Pedri’s opener in some style through Axel Witsel.
Ronald Araújo’s dramatic late winner ensured the hosts escaped with a much-needed triumph that laid bare their current vulnerabilities, but the Uruguayan’s strike was far from the only talking point in an event-laden affair.
Before Pedri and Witsel’s early goals, Barça’s unrelenting second-half pressure, Flick’s sending off and Araujo’s heroics, both sets of players were involved in a protest immediately after kickoff. Here’s an explainer of why such action was taken.
