Barcelona are set to face Cultural Leonesa in a midweek Copa del Rey clash and will look to rest some of their key players.
Ernesto Valverde is determined to offer the team’s biggest stars some time off after their emphatic 5-1 El Clasico win over Real Madrid.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique, Philippe Coutinho, Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba are among the players who have played the most minutes this season and are all likely to sit out the fixture, according to Marca. In all likelihood, they won’t even train on Tuesday.
Injured trio Lionel Messi, Samuel Umtiti and Thomas Vermaelen will also be omitted.
Instead, Valverde will look to give an opportunity to some of the fringe and youth players.
