The half-hour gales of Flick's Barça

No one, or very few, within Barcelona were nervous when Mbappé scored the first two goals on Sunday at Montjuïc. “ Barça hasn't started playing yet. When it starts…” was a comment echoed by those close to Hansi Flick's team. It denotes the confidence that exists in the Blaugrana's talent for creating chances. If Barça has demonstrated anything this season, it's that, when inspired, they become a whirlwind of football and an orgy of goals. To the point that they have specialized in settling and finishing matches in little more than half an hour.

Long live chaos. The vertigo of power. Total threat. Guaranteed fun.

Identity sign The Blaugrana have been characterized by not speculating and always looking for more goals without looking at the scoreboard.

No sooner said than done. Because that's what happened in the last Clásico. A left-footed shot from Gerard Martín outside the box lit the fuse. Courtois had to excel to clear it for a corner. From that corner came Eric Garcia's header. Barcelona never stopped accelerating and attacking, and didn't slow down until the referee blew his whistle for halftime. By then, Madrid had conceded four goals : Eric, Lamine Yamal, and two from Raphinha.

The 4-2 result was practically definitive after the events of the Clásicos at the Bernabéu and the final in Jeddah. Those two matches against Madrid were two other games in which Flick's Barcelona had also beaten Real Madrid's goalkeeper four times in 45 minutes. At Chamartín (0-4), all of the goals came in the second half , while in Saudi Arabia, for the Super Cup (2-5), the first four came in the first half .

When the volcano erupts In nine matches, the Blaugrana have scored 4 goals in a single half.

Three proofs, against their great rival, that the Blaugrana are unstoppable when they get into a trance and things start to go their way and the goals start to fall, especially because Flick's motto from the beginning was always to want more, not speculate and try to score as many goals as possible.

In total, there have been nine matches in which they have scored four goals in a row, almost in succession, at either half. The others were against Valladolid (7-0), in Mallorca (1-5), at Da Luz (4-5), against Valencia at home (7-1), at Mestalla in the Copa del Rey (0-5), and against Atlético de Madrid at the Metropolitano in La Liga (2-4).

Defenseless The most devastating hurricanes were suffered by Valencia and Valladolid, who received four goals in just 22 minutes.

When Barcelona is on fire, they destroy. They're a tsunami that sweeps away any opponent, an erupting volcano that attacks with their German-style high pressing and strikes again and again when they steal the ball with dizzying attacks, ideal for the characteristics of players like Raphinha or Lamine Yamal.

When he starts playing, to the rhythm of Pedri's creation, he has a half-hour of lust in which nothing can resist him. Thirty minutes in which the muses appear and everything smiles on him. A period of rapture in which his passion makes any defense tremble, overwhelmed because danger can strike from any direction. There's no greater madness than the comeback in Lisbon, where Barça was losing 4-2 and ended up winning 4-5 .

In total, Barcelona has completed nine comebacks. Among the most epic, in addition to the one against Benfica in January, are the one against Atlético de Madrid in March (from 2-0 down to 2-4 in 27 minutes) and the one against Celta Vigo, who were 3-1 up at Montjuïc with 26 minutes remaining but ended up losing 4-3.

Guaranteed show In 23 of the 57 matches played, Flick's team has scored four or more goals

But the most devastating blows fell to Valencia and Valladolid. Valencia, then bottom of the table, found themselves 4-0 down in the blink of an eye after 22 minutes at the Lluís Companys Stadium, while Valladolid, still in August, suffered a fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh defeat between the 64th and 85th minutes, falling victim to the Blaugrana's voracity.

Those half-hours of inspiration and enlightenment have been a constant, even with the break in between. Girona at Montilivi, Barbastro, and Real Sociedad were also victims. Although, perhaps in the Champions League semi-final in Milan, that trademark of not looking at the scoreboard worked against them. From August to May, Barcelona's matches have become a guaranteed spectacle. They have only failed to score once ( Leganés ), and in 23 of their 57 matches, they have celebrated four or more goals. A volcano of Blaugrana lava has erupted.