It might feel like Barcelona’s season is over, but they need to try and build some momentum for their Champions League tie with Napoli next month.
In some ways it would make sense to get their strongest team together and win a game to re-build their confidence, but their squad for the game against Alaves shows they’ve gone the other way:
??LISTA CORTA de SETIÉN con 16 JUGADORES para el Alavés-Barça de este domingo. pic.twitter.com/yEeGGUevh3
— El Chiringuito TV (@elchiringuitotv) July 18, 2020
The big take away from this is that they can only cobble 16 players together, and three of those are goalkeepers.
On top of that, Setien has had to turn to Araujo and Arnau to patch up the squad to even give him some options from the bench, as those two regularly turn out for the B team.
He should still manage to put out a team from that squad who can win the game, but they won’t have many subs to turn to and it could just be a case of relying on Messi again.
You do have to wonder why he’s not called on more options from the bench, because this would leave them just a few injuries or knocks away from fielding a goalkeeper in an outfield position.
It’s a nothing game with only pride to play for, so the main aim will be coming through the match without any more injuries.