Copa Del Rey, Barcelona 6-1 Sevilla (Aggregate 6-3): Five Talking Points

#3 A brief halt to Valverde's ever-rotating squad policy

Valverde opted to start his first team

One of Ernesto Valverde's crazy weaknesses is his never-changing tendency to keep rotating squads as fixtures line up one by one. While it has had its own benefits as crucial players get ample rest in between tight contests, it has also brought in its own share of some slight controversies as well.

For example, in the last season, Barcelona would have gone on to replicate Arsenal's marauding "Invincibles" run in the 2003-'04 season and had even finished more than six months without a single loss. Pat came Valverde's plan to rest most of the first team's players and even some of the bench options, as Barcelona fell to a nagging 1-0 defeat against Espanyol. It was their only loss in the whole season at the Spanish League.

A similar issue copped up at Sevilla a week earlier as all of a sudden, Valverde took the controversial decision of benching Messi and Suarez, in their vital away clash in the Copa del Rey. And they duly lost too, adding fuel to the fire. Had Barcelona lost today, the coach's position would certainly have been threatened, despite already being announced that he will be staying for longer.

Messi, Suarez, Coutinho, Busquets - all of them played in the return leg. With that win, Valverde will also banish any further negative questions on his influence in the club. What remains to be known, is only whether his idea of resting key players will continue as the season progresses. If the reader is a supporter of the club and is privy to how the club functions under Valverde, I think you are probably aware of the answer already.