Xavi surprisingly benches Barcelona key forward vs Atletico Madrid
Barcelona will take on Atletico Madrid later tonight for gameweek 29 at the Wanda Metropolitano, hoping to recreate or better their performances from earlier this season when they came away with a 1-0 win.
Joao Felix stepped up the plate that day, and came clutch with the goal against his former side while the defence was able to keep out Antoine Griezmann and co. for the rest of the 90 minutes.
The Portuguese has been given another start tonight in that position, with Xavi hoping that his disdain for Atletico pushes him through.
Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Gundogan have also retained their position from that lineup, but there are other changes in the side due to injuries.
Lamine Yamal has become a regular fixture for this Barcelona side since then, often playing on the right-wing over Raphinha in important matches.
However, Xavi has opted to go for Raphinha in that position over the youngster, with reports from Adria Albets claiming that the decision to bench Yamal comes out of precaution.
The coaching staff believe that Yamal should be rested often despite his importance in this side, due to his age and the nature of the demanding footballing schedule now more than ever.
He played 90 minutes against Napoli in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 and another demanding game this week would be poor man-management.
Further, with the final international break set to go ahead starting tomorrow, resting Yamal is presumably the best idea given he has been called up for the Spanish National Team.
Not to forget, with Cancelo’s untimely injury, Xavi has had to field Fort as the left-back, which already makes it two teenagers in the starting lineup.
Using three, in such a huge game against Atletico Madrid, could be too much inexperience for Barcelona at once.
That said, Yamal will undoubtedly be back in the starting lineup for Barcelona as they take on Las Palmas and of course, PSG in the Champions League following the international break.
