Despite a rather gloomy trip away to Granada last weekend, Barcelona returned to winning ways when they welcomed Villarreal to the Camp Nou.
And this in itself seems to be a big theme of their ongoing campaign.
The Catalans are a true force to be reckoned with within the confines of their own fortress of solitude but as soon as they have to travel somewhere, they are quite unrecognisable.
The last four away games they’ve played across all competitions all ended badly for them. Blaugrana tallied two draws and two defeats in the process while winning all three of their home La Liga fixtures. Clearly, there’s a pattern there and a clear issue for Ernesto Valverde’s troops.
And this weekend, they have a trip to Getafe, a team that’s currently below them in the standings and a team that’s been struggling with victories themselves.
But even though Barcelona can’t afford to underestimate any team in La Liga, especially now when the fight for every single point is so fierce across the board, they have to look ahead strategically and play their cards right.
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Valverde has already reshuffled his deck multiple times in Blaugrana’s previous fixtures, which can be seen in the total minutes the players tallied across the board, but while we have seen changes in the midfield and the forward ranks, the defence has been mostly the same at all times.
We’re talking about the centre-back pairing of Clement Lenglet and Gerard Pique particularly. Both defenders are among the only four players who have played every single minute of every single game in the ongoing 2019/20 campaign.
Alongside the two central defenders, only Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Antoine Griezmann have done the same.
And while the clash against Getafe is just as important as any other game in the league, Barcelona have to look ahead because they have an extremely difficult schedule in front of them.
Next week, they will be welcoming Inter Milan to Catalonia and then, after that, hosting an always tricky opponent in the form of Sevilla just days following the big Champions League bout.
So that’s three games in less than a week and a half with all three opponents being genuine competitors. For that specific reason, rotation is a must and seeing how their defence has been quite leaky in recent times, having your centre-backs rested and fit should be a priority.
The Catalans have already been on the receiving end of ten goals in a total of six games played in La Liga so that says enough about their fragility.
Not to mention that Pique already has four yellow cards to his name, meaning that the next one will have him suspended for a game. If that were to happen against Getafe on the weekend, Barcelona would lose an important piece of their defensive jigsaw for the huge clash with Sevilla.
And seeing how we’re talking about a tricky away fixture against a team with three wins in six this term, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Pique getting a yellow card is definitely a possibility.
But not if Valverde plays his cards right and this is exactly where Jean-Clair Todibo comes in.
The 19-year-old talent has not really seen much game time ever since he arrived in Catalonia in January this year. In fact, he still doesn’t have an appearance to his name in the 2019/20 campaign and has only played a total of two official games for Barcelona as a whole.
But even though he is still young and inexperienced, there’s a lot of potential to be unearthed in him. Just recently, he’s become Barcelona’s only representative in the 40-man shortlist for the Golden Boy award.
Maybe he still hasn’t had the right chance to show what he can do at Barcelona but Valverde needs to take a gamble and roll the dice with him.
Besides, with all the big games coming up, he will definitely need Pique rested, fit and not in danger of being suspended.
Sooner or later, the Spaniard is bound to get that fifth yellow card but it would really be a shame if it happened when they need him the most.
Getafe are capable of giving Barcelona a run for their money – only four clubs have scored more La Liga goals then them this season – but that game is also the perfect opportunity for Valverde to rest and rotate the players he’ll need most next week.
Currently, Pique is definitely one of them and even though his presence on the pitch is probably going to be missed, it’s a risk worth taking for Blaugrana.
Let’s see if Valverde feels the same.
