Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez has, on Sunday evening, provided an insight into his call to utilise Marcos Alonso in an unorthodox central defensive role.
The Blaugrana were of course back in action a short time ago.
Aware that a three-point haul would guide them back clear of Real Madrid to the summit of the La Liga table, Barca welcomed Celta Vigo to the Camp Nou, eyeing a 7th win from eight.
And, when all was said and done, the evening’s hosts, just, got the job done.
A solitary goal on the part of Pedri, coupled with some brilliance between the posts courtesy of Marc-Andre ter Stegen, eventually culminated in Xavi and co. emerging on the right side of a 1-0 scoreline.
Pedri opens the scoring for Barca 💎 pic.twitter.com/CDUl4u2VuS
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 9, 2022
Barcelona, in truth, though, got lucky.
Speaking on the back of the full-time whistle on Sunday, it therefore came as little surprise when Xavi was drawn on his latest team selection.
The Blaugrana’s woes this evening came with a makeshift backline in place, amid something of an injury crisis at the Camp Nou.
Nevertheless, the club’s supporters were left puzzled by their side’s boss opting to leave Eric Garcia on the bench, to instead slot left-back Marcos Alonso into a makeshift role at the heart of defence.
This call, though, came largely out of necessity, it has since been revealed.
Xavi, post-match, announced that Garcia was in fact left out from the off against Celta owing to a ‘minor’ injury concern, with the former Manchester City man therefore not risked to see out the full 90 minutes.
Xavi: “Eric had minor discomfort.”
— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) October 9, 2022
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