Xavi Hernandez has explained the two surprise omissions from his Barcelona starting XI this evening.
The Blaugrana are taking on Galatasaray in their Europa League Round of 16 first leg at Camp Nou.
And two key players were absent from the lineup, with Xavi already confirming beforehand that there would be some changes.
Though, there was a bigger motive behind the decision to bench Gerard Pique, who had a small injury.
Though, the centre-back did come on as early as half-time, and Xavi also confirmed that veteran midfielder Sergio Busquets was rested due to a busy season up to this point.
“Pique has an issue, Busquets has many minutes and we need many alternatives,” said Xavi pre-match.
“Memphis starts on the left and Ferran in the nine, but they can interchange.”
Barca still have plenty of La Liga action still to play, while if their Europa League campaign is successful, they will play six more games in Europe before the campaign is over.
It’s a wise decision from Xavi to be careful with his veteran players, even if he risks going to Turkey with a bigger job to do.
