I don’t even want to see any key players starting this weekend against Espanyol. We’re 7 points clear at the top, so we can afford not just to rotate, but to rotate heavily.
Lamine, Pedri, Olmo, Cancelo… all should be rested. You could even extend that to Kounde, Lewy, Eric, and Martin. There’s no reason to take risks when the priority is clearly the second leg.
Give minutes to the others, Casadó can step in, Araújo as well, maybe give Espart another chance, Balde too. Gavi could start if he’s ready, and of course Roony. Those players are hungry for minutes and won’t even have the second leg in mind, so they’ll give everything they have for the Espanyol game.
At the same time, you make sure the players who will start the second leg are in the best possible physical condition, fully rested, sharp, and ready to go.
🚨BREAKING: Manchester United are standing firm on Marcus Rashford’s price.
Barcelona must pay €30M (£26M) to sign him permanently, and United are reportedly not willing to lower the fee.
Barça fans… should the club pay it or walk away? 👀
@Culer_ish Diego Siemeone solved Hansi Flick’s puzzle. It was Flick’s third defeat against Atletico so far, more than any other Barça managers in recent times. Flick’s high lines always backfires against Simeone’s team.
🚨 Ronald Koeman on Barcelona’s 2–0 loss against Atlético Madrid :
Right now, the whole system looks too dependent on Raphinha and Lamine Yamal. When those two are not fully involved or not at their best, the team loses creativity, rhythm, and confidence.
Today, I felt Marcus Rashford was the only player really trying to support Yamal and bring some danger going forward. But it’s not enough at this level — you need more players taking responsibility.
And honestly, it’s sad to see Barcelona lose like this at home. This stadium used to be a place where opponents suffered. Now, teams come here believing they can win — and that’s a big problem.
If we played badly and lost because Atleti were simply the better team, fair enough, I’d take my L in peace and accept that we’re not good enough.
But we actually performed better, even with 10 men. We created, we competed, and did enough to at least get something out of it but we loose because of one moment… one mistake.
Not a pattern, not them consistently outplaying you, just a single lapse, agh, it's so irritating.