The Barcelona midfield, particularly some of the choices Setien has made recently, has been under scrutiny. Against Espanyol, he went with a trio of Sergi Roberto-Busquets-Rakitic.
That midfield produced very little and the absences of Riqui Puig stood out like a sore thumb. After starting back-to-back games, he came off the bench in the Villarreal match and didn’t feature at all in the last one.
Given how the midfield struggled, it would be fair to assume that Puig starts against Valladolid. Especially considering that since his move to Juventus was made official, Arthur has not playing a single minute since.
He won’t play again this weekend because he picked up an injury that left him out of the squad. Frenkie de Jong did some training with the group but was left back in Barcelona to continue his recovery.
Arturo Vidal came off the bench last time and will likely start as he’s earned the trust of the manager and his effective “chaoticness” is something they were missing.
Expected Barcelona Midfield
Midfielder (right): Arturo Vidal
Central midfielder: Sergio Busquets
Midfielder (left): Riqui Puig