Barcelona bewildered with Setien not selecting youth players

Barcelona are said to be bewildered by Quique Setien not playing either Riqui Puig or Ansu Fati against Napoli in the Champions League encounter, report Marca.

The two players were included in the matchday squad to face the Italian side in Saturday’s Round of 16 second leg encounter at the Camp Nou, which the Blaugrana won 3-1.

It was expected that both would play a part with many first-team players unavailable, such as Sergio Busquets, Arturo Vidal, Arthur Melo, Ousmane Dembele and Martin Braithwaite.

The club are said to be so bemused as Setien made a stand of wanting the duo included for the squad and for their preparation not to be disrupted by playing for the side’s B team, who lost their promotion playoff match to Sabadell.

Barcelona have subsequently lost approximately €10m due to their B side failing to win promotion to the Segunda through TV revenue.

What was even more surprising was that B team captain Monchu – who played in the playoff fixtures – was one of the substitutes introduced during Saturday night’s game.

Setien said after the game when asked why the Ansu and Puig did not feature: “Given the circumstances, we thought it was appropriate (not to field them).”

Tags Ansu Fati Quique Setien Riqui Puig
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