Xavi could bench three key players for Barcelona vs Sevilla

As Barcelona gear up to take on Sevilla in a crucial La Liga encounter on Sunday night, manager Xavi Hernandez could be considering the prospect of resting some of his important players for the game.

Considering that a win against Los Nervionenses would put Barça firmly in contention for second place in the La Liga standings, it would make sense for the manager to field his strongest XI.

However, at the same time, Xavi will also need to keep an eye on the team’s next assignment – the UEFA Europa League quarter-final first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt.

With that competition being Barça’s only avenue to win a trophy this term, it would bode well for the manager to keep some of his players, who were heavily involved during the international break, fresh for that encounter.

Speaking in the pre-match presser, Xavi also insisted that he will rotate his players for the game, saying:

“Yes, there will be rotations. We have several important players and this is a positive thing, we have other options and there are several players who deserve to participate because they are training very well. There are many trips coming up and there may be injuries.”

It could see the Blaugrana decide to bench three key stars – Ronald Araujo, Frenkie de Jong and Ferran Torres – for the game against Sevilla. The trio was heavily involved during the international break with their respective teams and could do with a rest.

Araujo played the entire 90 minutes for Uruguay in both their World Cup Qualifiers against Peru and Chile. In contrast, Eric Garcia was involved in just one game for Spain.

Meanwhile, Ferran Torres started and played the whole game for Spain against Albania and featured for more than 30 minutes in the clash versus Iceland, too. His fellow forwards like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Adama Traore and Ousmane Dembele were not involved at all.

Frenkie de Jong played the full 180 minutes for the Netherlands against Denmark and Germany. Considering that the likes of Gavi and Pedri saw relatively lesser game-time for Spain, they could be favoured in the middle of the park.

Xavi has a vast squad with quality across all areas of the pitch for him to be able to rest and rotate his players. With a critical period in the season coming up, it will be important for the Barcelona manager to make the best use of the strength in depth at his disposal.