DBasia.news – Ahead of the trip to Ferencvaros’ headquarters at the Puskas Arena, Thursday (3/12), Barcelona seemed to be rotating their squad a little. One of them is related to the absence of Lionel Messi in training in preparation for the match.
Barcelona coach, Ronald Koeman gave the signal that he would give Lionel Messi, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, and Philippe Coutinho a break. The indication was seen in the training session ahead of the match.
Koeman did not want to take the risk of having them continuously play in matches because of the busy schedule. Especially for Messi who almost always plays.
The Argentine player has started eight times, once being a substitute in LaLiga. Meanwhile, in the Champions League, Messi started three times.
Because of that Koeman has called on young players in the training session Tuesday morning, local time. They are Inaki Pena, Konrad de La Fuente, and Oscar Mingu who have also been given the opportunity to play in the Champions League when they defeated Dynamo Kiev.
Barca have already been confirmed to qualify for the top 16 because after the points, it is impossible to catch up with third-place, Dynamo Kiev and fourth-place, Ferencvaros.
Barca only needs to fight for the top position of the standings with Juventus in second place.