The derby between Espanyol and Barcelona might be one of the most one sided in world football, but the stakes are especially high tonight.
Barcelona know they need to win every game now to keep the pressure on Real Madrid, while anything but a win tonight for Espanyol will see them relegated to the Segunda.
It’s a game that Barcelona are expected to win comfortably, and it’s not a great surprise to see Setien stick with the big names up front after a great performance against Villarreal:
#Culers! Here is your starting XI for #BarçaEspanyol! pic.twitter.com/UVnF0ViVio
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 8, 2020
Of course you can’t please everybody all the time, and the omission of Riqui Puig hasn’t gone down well with some of the fans:
Setien see that Riqui Puig has been playing so good lately so he is like: BENCH THE BOY ??? https://t.co/mjW5EhEjIP
— ? (@baertra15_) July 8, 2020
Why is puig not starting
— Flame? (@phatdem) July 8, 2020
But no puig ?
— Marcel AFC1985 (@MFKraan) July 8, 2020
Setién will put in Puig only when one of the front 3 goes off. Watch.
— Luis Mazariegos (@luism8989) July 8, 2020
Puig should be first team from now on tbh
— Kay (@kwabena___) July 8, 2020
It must be a tough one to take for the youngster as it finally looked like he was starting to break into the first team, but he’s straight back on the bench as soon as thing gets tense.
It’s very likely that Setien won’t be there next season so a new coach might trust him more, so it’s important that he keeps playing well when he does get a chance.