Alaves forward chooses the Barcelona star he would not like to play against on Sunday: “Special player”

Barcelona will be aiming to turn their ailing fortunes around as they lock horns with Deportivo Alaves this Sunday on home soil.

One of the players to be particularly wary about is Luis Rioja, who plays as a left winger for Alaves and is expected to start this weekend.

Rioja speaks about Barcelona youngsters

The winger was recently interviewed by Mundo Deportivo and touched upon some of the Barcelona youngsters he is set to encounter shortly at the Montjuïc stadium.

When asked about the player he would remove from the Barça lineup, Rioja gave a straightforward response, claiming he would remove Pedri. “It is true that he is coming from an injury, but I think he is a special player,” he said.

Pedri has yet to start a game after returning from injury with appearances off the bench in his last two games, as the club does not wish to see the Canary Islander suffer from a relapse.

However, there is a strong possibility that Pedri will start in the next game and finally feature in the XI.

Understandably, Rioja acknowledges one of Barcelona’s biggest differentials in the team and hopes to avoid his inclusion.

Lamine Yamal’s name was also brought forth, with the 16-year-old recently also acquiring a call-up to the Spanish International Team.

Rioja was asked to define the absurdity of his talent, to which he only had words of praise, stating:

“He seems like a spectacular footballer to me. He has a lot of quality, and being already at Barça and on the national team, he still has room for improvement. He is a great player. He was born with that gift, and that must be taken care of.”

The former Spain manager also shared a similar sentiment, claiming caution must be taken with his development.