Hansi Flick not thinking about the occasion ahead of first El Clasico

The fact that this is Hansi Flick's first El Clasico doesn't mean much to the Barcelona boss. Instead, his sole focus is on preparing his players.

"My job is to prepare the team well," Flick said in his prematch press conference. "I have seen that all the players are looking forward to playing this game. It will be a very good game."

It's been a productive week for the Catalan side having beaten Sevilla in the league last Sunday and then pulling off their biggest win of the season so far, drubbing Bayern Munich 4-1 in the Champions League.

One of the questions for Flick is whether or not he'll employ that same high line against Real Madrid. While it worked against Bayern Munich the criticism is his defense may be found out against the likes of Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe.

"Every game we play to adapt to the opponent, and we will do that against Real Madrid," Flick said. "All teams have fast players. I have full confidence in my team. We believe in ourselves."

Barcelona's high defensive line has paid dividends in LaLiga where they are catching their opponents offside more than any other team. According to Sport, opponents have been caught offside 75 times this season, 62 times in LaLiga alone.

What that stat tells you is Barcelona's defender have understood well what Flick wants out of them with that offside trap and they have developed an understanding of how to line up. A team can be left woefully exposed when that offside trap doesn't work well and, so far, Barcelona haven't run afoul of it.

"Catching a lot of opposing forwards offside? We have many coaches who study this. This is our philosophy," Flick said. " We want to press, press the ball, the ball holder. We must be close, play compactly. When there is too much space between lines, we don't do well. We were good in this regard in the second half against Bayern."

In the first half, however, Bayern did well in getting past Barcelona's press with quick one touch passing. On more than one occasion, there were considerable gaps between the midfield and defense. While Barcelona were only punished on one occasion, it could have been more had the Bavarians taken advantage of their opportunities.

With the cushion of having a lead, Barcelona were able to play with Bayern's desperation in terms of needing a goal. It's why getting the lead against Real Madrid is going to be important. You'd rather be ahead than chasing the game.

Perhaps something that may work in Barcelona's advantage is the fact Thibaut Courtois and Rodrygo will both be out for Madrid. Given how many goal scoring opportunities Barcelona create, it's more likely one of those will find the back of the net against Lunin than Courtois. With Rodrygo, it's one less player on the wing to worry about. In some ways, the Brazilian brings more of that balance up front that Ancelotti has been looking for.

Flick's tenure with Barcelona has gone better than many anticipated. An attributing factor is he's been able to block out the noise since he doesn't speak Spanish or Catalan. All he has to worry about is preparing his team rather than hear or read what's written in the press.

He already has a win over Real Madrid as the two sides faced off in preseason with the Blaugrana winning 2-1. An official match is a different story however. Should Barcelona come away from the Santiago Bernabeu with a win, they'll have opened a six-point gap between themselves and Los Blancos.