After Barcelona beat Deportivo Alavés 6-1 at the Camp Nou on Saturday, Mario Suárez criticised Hansi Flick's management of player minutes. Barcelona are set to face Aston Villa before meeting Atlético Madrid.
Discussion after the Alavés match
Rodri Hernández played the full match against Deportivo Alavés, while Gavi did not feature. GOAL said the win was Barcelona's 10th win. GOAL also said Barcelona had suffered back-to-back defeats to Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid before the Alavés match.
Suárez's remarks on the show
GOAL said Flick's handling of the Barcelona squad became the main talking point on a sports show on the "Movistar Plus" platform. Former Atlético Madrid man Mario Suárez gave his view on the show, according to GOAL's report of remarks reported by the newspaper "Sport".
Suárez said, as reported by the newspaper " Sport ": "For example, I don't understand why Rodri plays the full 90 minutes against Alavés, while he doesn't feature as much against Paris Saint-Germain, and then we see him getting a rest now, in the matches against Villarreal and Atlético Madrid"
His view on workload
He went on: "I have noticed that Pedri and Rodri are approaching the 1,000-minute mark of playing time, while Lamine has gone well beyond that figure. When you play more than five matches in which you are leading by two or three goals, you can take the opportunity to rest your players"
For Suárez, rest is non-negotiable, especially once a game is already won. "Ultimately, when a player reaches April or May having played 500 or 600 fewer minutes, that makes a tangible difference"
Reference to Paris Saint-Germain
GOAL said Flick rested Rodri against Paris Saint-Germain. Rounding off his remarks, he added: "This effect appears clearly when facing a team like Paris Saint-Germain, which works to manage the playing minutes of its players throughout the French league competitions, to ensure its key stars reach their peak readiness"
