How Barcelona’s fitness guru got them sprinting to top of LaLiga

How Barcelona's fitness guru got them sprinting to top of LaLiga

Barcelona president Joan Laporta was furious with the way he felt the team faded at the end of big games last season.

Barça lost both Clásicos against Real Madrid to stoppage-time goals, results which if reversed would have flipped the final standings at the top of LaLiga between the two sides. In the UEFA Champions League, they could not live with Paris Saint-Germain after being reduced to 10 players as they exited the competition at the quarterfinal stage.

“The team dipped after the 60th minute physically,” Laporta said at the end of the campaign in an interview with the club’s in-house media. “We did not finish games as we wanted.”

Those results, among other reasons, cost coach Xavi Hernández his job, with Hansi Flick replacing him. However, concurrently and in collaboration with sporting director Deco, Laporta was also working on a complete revamp of the first team’s fitness department.

Barça went after the best specialists in Spain. Julio Tous was appointed as the head of fitness training. Tous has extensive experience in strength and conditioning having previously worked with Antonio Conte at Juventus, Chelsea and with Italy‘s national team. He also, very briefly, worked at Barça in 2004 during Laporta’s first term as president.

Rafa Maldonado, Pepe Conde and Germán Fernández followed to make up Tous’ team, joining from Real Sociedad, Sevilla and Udinese respectively. Maldonado and Conde are focused on work on the grass, while Fernández’s role is more gym based, with an emphasis on strength and neuromuscular training.

The results were instant. Barça started the season with seven straight wins in LaLiga after being put through their paces in preseason.

We work much harder than before,” midfielder Pedri said in September. “The new fitness coaches that have come in are really good for us. You notice it in games. The team doesn’t dip after the 70th or 80th minute, it maintains the same fitness levels.”