Barcelona manager Hansi Flick was celebrating his team’s “best match of the season” last night, after a 3-1 home win over Atletico Madrid increased their La Liga lead to four points.

Moving on from a sticky start to the new campaign, Spain’s defending champions “improved a lot in all the things we needed to do better”, said the German, whose team has looked vulnerable in defence and off the pace in possession at key moments in recent weeks, not helped by an injury crisis.

With Pedri and Raphinha now both fit enough to start, Barca were worthy winners over Atletico, who missed the chance to continue an impressive run of six consecutive victories and propel themselves into the title race.

They remain fourth, six points behind Barca. The Catalans’ lead at the top could be cut back down to one point if Real Madrid win at Athletic Club this evening.

In their second match back at the Camp Nou, Barca dominated for long spells but misfired badly up front. Robert Lewandowski had a night to forget, missing several good chances, including a penalty that he skied over the bar. Before substitute Ferran Torres sealed the points in stoppage time, Atletico wasted clear openings to equalise, most notably through Thiago Almada and Antoine Griezmann.

Arguably the best news for Barca came at the back, given how depleted they are in defence right now. One name there stands out in particular: Gerard Martin.

The 23-year-old started a third consecutive league game as a left-sided centre-back. Pau Cubarsi played next to him, with Jules Kounde at right-back and Alejandro Balde at left-back.

Martin was signed by Barca two years ago from local side Cornella, who now play in Spain’s fifth tier, for about €200,000. He spent a season with Barcelona’s reserve team over 2023-24 in the third division before making his senior debut under Flick last term. It would be fair to describe him as one of the less glamorous members of the squad.

Against Atletico, he registered the highest number of key defensive actions in the game, with nine clearances, three interceptions and three tackles won. He was only dribbled past once — a decent figure considering he was up against Julian Alvarez for most of the game.

With the ball, Martin had 81 touches and a 91 per cent success rate in his passing. His performance gave Flick a reminder of what life can be with a naturally left-footed centre-back in the team. Martin is not Inigo Martinez, but he looked very composed on the ball and natural in the build-up process.

He plays simple and tidy football, but is not afraid to break lines with a pass when the opportunity presents itself. Having him on the left also allows Cubarsi to play in his preferred role on the right side of the defensive pair. On the whole they showed a good understanding in keeping the high line.

“Everyone saw it today. The idea we had with Gerard (Martin) as a left-footed centre-back is very good,” said Flick in his post-match press conference.

“In the build-up it gives us a lot more options, but also in the way we defend together, with Balde higher up, and then Cubarsi and Kounde. They were all very good. Eric (Garcia) as a pivot was very good today. It was good to see how we handled our defence.”

Martin’s experimental conversion from a left-back to the centre of Barcelona’s defence has been a success — and after last night, don’t be surprised to see him stay there. But back in pre-season, nobody would have expected it. The only reason it has happened is because Flick does not have many other options now, after a series of surprises.

First of all, there was 34-year-old Martinez’s departure to Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr. Just before the new campaign began, Barca lost one of their most important players at the back.

This week, Barcelona granted Ronald Araujo indefinite leave after a request from the player’s camp for a period of absence. There is no timeframe set for the Uruguay international, with Barca ready to offer him all the space he needs. “It is a private situation, I don’t want to say more,” Flick said on Monday.

Eric Garcia has impressed in the games he has played at centre-back this term — but he has also played very well at right-back and has featured in defensive midfield, as he did once more last night. But look a little deeper and you will realise that the backline is probably the most depleted area in Flick’s whole squad.

The only first-team defender on the bench was Andreas Christensen, who has not started since September. He has missed three matches due to a calf injury this season, and over the last two months the longest spell he had on the pitch was a 29-minute substitute appearance against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, with the game already lost.

There are no signs to suggest his involvement will increase in the near future, nor does he seem to be part of Barca’s long-term plans. The 29-year-old is out of contract in the summer and has said he would like to extend, but Barca have not made any move in that department. Club sources say that is not expected to change anytime soon.

Martin and Barca team-mates celebrating Torres’ goal (Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images)

This leaves Flick with five players — Kounde, Garcia, Cubarsi, Martin and Balde — to cover four spots in his starting line-up. The coaching staff is also considering trying out Kounde as a centre-back, to give more rotation to the squad and keep Garcia playing at right-back, where he’s shined this season.

It should be causing some concern, despite what has recently been communicated.

Barca’s sporting director Deco said in an interview with Catalunya Radio last month that the club was not counting on making any signings in the winter transfer window.

“If we are fine and there is no big surprise, I don’t think we’ll need any signings in January,” he said.

“We know where we can improve, and also the difficulties we have. But last season we had some tough moments too, and we were able to navigate them.”

Looking at the situation now, however, maybe Barca are not so fine after all. If there’s an area Flick has reason to be worried about, it is his options at centre-back.

As ever with Barcelona and transfers, the usual complications apply. Their spending on wages is still above the limit they have been set by La Liga. Registering new arrivals under current conditions would be complicated — and essentially they will need to offload salaries before being allowed to do so.

But as we approach the new year, and the inevitable transfer name-dropping that will accelerate around the topic of who will become Barcelona’s next No 9 especially, with Lewandowski’s contract also up this summer, those in the club’s senior offices will surely start focusing their attention on what has become a pressing issue, despite Flick’s quick solution.