Reasons why Barcelona attacking duo did not get minutes vs Athletic Club – report

The fault for Barcelona’s two dropped points at San Mames falls primarily on the players. Even with just ten minutes to go, the Catalans did not look to up the ante in attack, thus letting go of perhaps their biggest chance to re-enter the title race.

Xavi was visibly distraught at his team’s lack of intent to attack forward in numbers, with cameras even catching him using harsh language against his players on the night.

However, there is concurrent talk over the manager’s incompetence, for he did not call upon either Marc Guiu or Vitor Roque despite the team’s struggles in attack.

The backstory

According to Toni Juanmarti of SPORT, Xavi’s decision to not bring on a striker had nothing to do with a lack of confidence in the younger names. It was, in fact, a decision taken out of force, rather than choice.

The unfortunate injuries to Pedri and Frenkie de Jong forced the manager to make two emergency changes in the first half, at two different intervals. Effectively, he thus had three changes left and just one window to make them.

Xavi thus waited until the final 15 minutes before making the changes, two of which were forced at that time.

Andreas Christensen asked to be taken off late in the second half out of fatigue. Moreover, he was already on a yellow card, and replacing him with Oriol Romeu only made sense.

Joao Felix was the other candidate who came on, and rightfully so in the manager’s eyes for he is a superiorly placed player on the pecking order over Roque and Guiu.

The Lewandowski factor

The only change Xavi could have forfeited in order to bring one of Roque or Guiu, thus, was Inigo Martinez’s introduction in place of Pau Cubarsi. There is, however, a reason why the coach did not go down that route.

As seen by Xavi, Yamal was on the field for less than 45 minutes while Felix came on as a late substitute, giving the team two fresh players in attack. The only way to introduce Roque or Guiu would be to take off Robert Lewandowski.

However, Lewandowski had been in good touch, and the manager trusted the Polish star’s quality to pull the team through. After all, the veteran striker had been in fine form in the matches leading up to last night’s clash.

As such, Xavi opted to keep the seasoned striker on and left the young forwards on the bench. Eventually, however, the Catalans could not find the required breakthrough and were forced to settle for a draw.