Barcelona face a tough task against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, but there’s no room for summer signing Malcom in Ernesto Valverde’s squad this weekend.
The pressure will be on the Catalan giants after their midweek defeat to Leganes, and so a response will be expected by all to show that it was merely a temporary setback.
SEE MORE: Barcelona injury blow: Influential ace skips training, major doubt for Athletic Bilbao clash
However, as seen in the tweet below, there is no place for Malcom in the squad for the encounter, which has left many fans questioning why the Brazilian ace isn’t involved at all.
As noted by Sport, there is no official reason for his absence in terms of an injury or technical decision, and so it’s unsurprisingly left the Barcelona faithful below baffled as to why he wouldn’t be included this weekend.
The 21-year-old has found playing time hard to come by so far this season, making just two brief appearances in La Liga, totalling 25 minutes of football.
In turn, while it wouldn’t come as a huge surprise to see him not in the starting line-up, it seems strange that he hasn’t been able to even make it into the squad given he offers another attacking option for Valverde.
Perhaps the Spanish tactician will eventually explain his reasoning, but for now, it’s merely given additional ammunition to the fans below to criticise him and it’s not an ideal atmosphere for the club even though they’re coming off the back of a domestic double under him and it’s still so early in the current campaign.
[? SQUAD LIST]
? #BarçaAthletic
?? #ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/ggjbAAuMdc— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 28, 2018
Where is malcom ? #ValverdeOUT pic.twitter.com/WSLXlnhWFB
— buscapé ???? (@Buscape_Fcb) September 28, 2018
no malcom? should’ve let Roma buy him if he’s gonna get any minutes
— ricky / 1347 ?? (@rickylxopez) September 28, 2018
Malocom ??????? Wtfff
— Naif (@i_Nf10) September 28, 2018
Where is Malcom ??
— MSN47 #Infinit8Iniesta (@MSN475) September 28, 2018
I am really starting to think we signed Malcom just to p**s off roma
— MarvNTreyHD1 ? (@MarvNTreyHD1) September 28, 2018
Did we buy Malcom just to taunt Roma? Lmao
— Ahmed (CuriousDembessi) (@FuriousRantz16) September 28, 2018
#ValverdeOUT where is Malcom !! Cilessen and Vidal must starts tomorrow
— Ramzi (@Ramzi13nino) September 28, 2018
no malcom no umtiti ?!?!?! #ValverdeOUT
— zaldi (@zaldibchtr) September 28, 2018
Where is Malcom?!?!
— ??? ??? (@A4dABpVgMHyX4xx) September 28, 2018