{"id":550880,"date":"2026-03-28T18:14:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T18:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/550880\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T18:14:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T18:14:08","slug":"barcelona-gem-slowly-showing-why-flick-was-right-to-compare-him-with-bayern-munich-legend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/550880\/","title":{"rendered":"Barcelona gem slowly showing why Flick was right to compare him with Bayern Munich legend"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Xavi Espart is no longer a promising name coming through at Barcelona. Rather, he is becoming a strong option for Hansi Flick to consider.<\/p>\n<p>As such, his latest performance for Spain\u2019s U19 side against Slovenia clarified why Flick was so confident in <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/flick-talks-lewandowski-gavi-pedri-casado-cancelo-espart-cortes-ahead-of-athletic-club-vs-barcelona\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">drawing parallels with Philipp Lahm<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That comparison initially felt quite overboard, but <a href=\"https:\/\/as.com\/futbol\/seleccion\/la-rojita-da-la-razon-a-flick-espart-en-modo-lahm-con-espana-f202603-n\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">AS<\/a> explains just how it is now starting to look like a reality.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s the story?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What makes Espart different is his versatility and how naturally he interprets different roles.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Unlike players who are shifted around to solve short-term problems, Espart reads the game with the awareness of someone who understands multiple positions at once.<\/p>\n<p>His career path explains that. Starting out as a midfielder, he developed a sense of positioning, rhythm, and decision-making that typically takes years to refine.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, moving into a fullback role has not limited him, it has expanded his influence.<\/p>\n<p>From wide areas, he defends, he overlaps, he dictates play and also steps inside when needed.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"725\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/fc-barcelona-v-sevilla-fc-laliga-ea-sports-3-2-1024x725.jpg\" alt=\"Xavi Espart, Barcelona player\" class=\"wp-image-195665\"  \/>Flick\u2019s faith inEspart is bearing fruit. (Photo by Alex Caparros\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>Against Slovenia, when deployed back in midfield, that trait of his became even clearer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He controlled transitions, anticipated danger early, and imposed structure on the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As per the aforementioned outlt, Barcelona have already begun to benefit from this profile.<\/p>\n<p>Flick has shown clear trust in Espart by <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/gavi-xavi-espart-react-after-barcelona-5-2-sevilla-dreamed-of-this-moment-many-times\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">using him in high-pressure situations<\/a> rather than easing him in slowly.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Minutes against Newcastle United in a tense draw and a start in the commanding win over Sevilla are not random decisions, they show that he can handle responsibility.<\/p>\n<p>The Lahm comparison, therefore, is about recognising a rare footballing profile.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Players who can operate across lines without disrupting team shape are invaluable, especially in systems that rely on positional intelligence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Xavi Espart is no longer a promising name coming through at Barcelona. Rather, he is becoming a strong&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550881,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[418,49042,4893,106171,403,99,240354],"class_list":["post-550880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-news","tag-fc-barcelona","tag-hansi-flick","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-xavi-espart"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}