Barcelona’s Hansi Flick omitted from Ballon d’Or coach nominees despite La Liga triumph

Winning a domestic league title with a record 94 points, scoring 95 goals, and going unbeaten at home across an entire season would seem like a strong audition for any major coaching award. Hansi Flick did all of that with Barcelona in 2025-26 and still didn’t make the cut for the 2026 Ballon d’Or Men’s Coach of the Year shortlist. The five nominees announced on September 8 are Mikel Arteta of Arsenal, Luis de la Fuente of the Spain national team, Unai Emery of Aston Villa, Vincent Kompany of Bayern Munich, and Luis Enrique of Paris Saint-Germain. Flick’s name is not among them. What Flick actually did The 2025-26 La Liga campaign was, by any domestic measure, exceptional. Barcelona won all 19 of their home matches, a feat that tends to get coaches on shortlists rather than removed from them. The 94-point total was a league record, and the 95 goals scored reflected a team playing with genuine attacking ambition rather than grinding out wins on defensive structure. This wasn’t a one-season blip, either. Flick had already won La Liga Coach of the Year for the 2024-25 campaign, when Barcelona completed a domestic treble by taking the league title, the Copa del Rey, and the Supercopa. ...