But Laporta talked about team physically drop off after 60 minutes so I consider that a stamina problem.
We were never the most physical team and never will be but I think Xavi has improved us in that aspect and don't think it was as big problem as made out by his haters. But ofc Flick will improve us here when he doesn't even know yet who his physical coach will be and it's most likely he'll be choosen by the club. So yeah, we'll see.
During those 38 games in which Xavi's men finished champions, his team, according to 'Media Coach', ended up leading the statistics on distance traveled and no one covered more kilometers than Barça (114.2). Atlético, Girona, Real Sociedad, Athletic, Valencia and Celta followed in the classification. Real Madrid was last with an average of 106.9 kilometers per game.
This is one of the two great values that the different coaching staffs measure to analyze their physical preparation during the games. The second is the distance traveled at a speed greater than 21 km/h. Last season, Athletic traveled the most meters (7,419), followed by Barça, with 7,235. Both teams finished in the same positions in terms of sprints (441 m at +21km/h for Athletic compared to 423 for Barça). It seems evident that the physical preparation during the season in which the League was won was in line with the needs of the team to finish champion, so, in that aspect, there was no problem.
The same system that analyzed these metrics a year before ensures after finishing the current campaign that Barça has been second, although with practically identical numbers in terms of average distance traveled (114). Having 65% possession, higher than the previous year, is key to understanding this slight decrease. Yes, the descent is more important in terms of distance traveled at more than 21 km/h. Barça goes from 7,235 to 6,787.
This, they explain, is due to different factors, although the absence for too many months of footballers like Gavi, Balde or De Jong stands out, whose physical potential is beyond doubt and who stand out, among other things, in intense efforts. Despite everything, it is enough to see how Real Madrid, in this figure, is still below despite having won the League while no one doubts the work done by its physical trainer, the Italian Pintus.