Barcelona’s season has begun with a different sound around the training ground: the clink of weights. Hansi Flick’s most sought-after summer addition was not a forward or a creative midfielder, but Benjamin Kugel, the 46-year-old German fitness coach entrusted with reshaping the physical edge of the squad in Flick’s third campaign at the club.
The early results have encouraged Barcelona, although the larger judgement will rest on how the side finishes the season and whether the workload helps limit injuries. Kugel’s arrival has brought a clear change to the daily routine. Where Julio Tous, the previous head of physical preparation, relied heavily on resistance-band work, the new programme places much greater emphasis on weight training.
Players now complete strength sessions throughout the week and, notably, after matches as well. The practice applies both at Camp Nou and on the road, with Barcelona taking gym equipment on away trips so that the group can continue lifting after fixtures outside the city. The intention is to make the team more robust in contests with opponents, an improvement that has been evident in the opening stretch.
Pedri and Frenkie de Jong were among the players who had been particularly convinced by the previous, band-based approach. Kugel’s system has nevertheless become the standard under Flick, whose trusted colleague has final authority over the physical plan. There have been internal concerns that too much weight work could place an excessive burden on the squad, but the coach’s backing is clear. Post-match recovery sessions, meanwhile, have not undergone any major alteration.
A familiar figure for Flick
Kugel has settled smoothly into the Barcelona group. He is regarded as approachable and communicative, aided by an ability to work in several languages. Alongside German, he speaks Spanish, Portuguese, French and English; his Spanish was developed during previous work in Lanzarote and Costa Rica.
His route to Barcelona has taken him through Werder Bremen, Cologne, PSV Eindhoven and Benfica. He also spent almost a decade within the German Football Association’s coaching structure, where he worked alongside Flick. Kugel was additionally part of Joachim Löw’s staff when Germany won the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
For Barcelona, the appointment is therefore more than a change of exercise equipment. It is an extension of Flick’s own football network, brought from German international football to Catalonia with a straightforward aim: build a side better equipped for the physical demands of a long season across Spain and Europe.
